Teen Titans Meet the Elementals
by MultiplePersonas
Summary: The Teen Titans meet up with a team of OCs with the powers of the elements, BUT SLADE AND AN OC VILLAIN HAVE A PLAN TO GET RID OF BOTH TEAMS FOR GOOD! I SUCK AT SUMMARIES AND TITLES, but this story means a lot to me! PLEASE REVIEW! Completed!
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

(Alright. This is my first fanfic ever. However, this idea's been WORMING ITS WAY THROUGH MY HEAD FOR YEARS AND I'VE decided to FINALLY let the world know. So HERE GOES!!)

**Teen Titans Meet the Elementals**

**Chapter 1: First Impressions**

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS, but I do own the Elementals

4:00 PM

The top of a tall building overlooking a street

Robin stared intently at the street, looking for any sign of crime. Once again, nothing.

"Why do we even do this anymore?" he asked himself, "We've already disposed of just about every enemy we have, and no normal criminal would be stupid enough to try anything in the city protected by the Teen Titans."

As if to answer him, a figure came running down the street below him, with a motorcycle in hot pursuit.

"TITANS, GO!" Robin yelled into his communicator, before jumping down to help the man. Luckily, he had hidden his R-cycle in the alley. He hopped onto his trademark motorcycle and started the pursuit.

Now that he got a closer look at the man, Robin noticed what the cyclist was probably after. The man was clutching a briefcase as he ran, obviously afraid of losing it.

Robin sped up to match speeds with the cyclist, and tried to get a good look at him. He was fairly muscular, dressed all in bright red. Robin tried to get a look at his face, but he couldn't see him very well at this angle. He did notice, though, that the cyclist had fulfilled a cliché by painting flames on his motorcycle.

"Stop!" Robin yelled, "Keep away from that man!"

The cyclist responded by raising a hand toward Robin, and suddenly blasting a fireball from his hand! Robin's motorcycle swerved to the side, but quickly regained balance and continued the chase.

Suddenly, another two motorcycles rode out onto the street in front of him. The first motorcycle was a light blue, while the second one had a camouflage pattern, with their riders having outfits and helmets to match.

The red cyclist nodded at the other two and once again raised his hand and shot a fireball, this time at the man. The man fell to the ground hard, still clutching the briefcase, as the red cyclist prepared to strike the final blow, when out of nowhere; Robin heard a familiar voice yelling "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!"

The red cyclist was surrounded by a black aura as he and his bike were lifted into the air and thrown aside, thanks to Raven, the blue-cloak-sporting, telekinetic Titan.

Next, a green pterodactyl swooped down and grabbed the briefcase-holding man up and placed him aside, just in time to avoid the green energy bolts that hit the center of the street, sending all the bikers (including Robin) back from the shockwave. Beastboy and Starfire had arrived as well.

The man ran off into the street, and right afterward a high-tech looking van pulled up into the street to keep any of the bikers from following him. Just as soon as the van stopped, Cyborg, the half-man, half-machine jumped out the door.

"Sorry we took so long." Raven said as she and Starfire, the orange-skinned alien girl, descended.

"But we did not know where you were." finished Starfire.

"Dude," said Beastboy, now in his human form, though still green with pointy ears, "Next time you tell us to go, you might wanna tell us where to go!"

Robin was about to apologize when he heard the red cyclist yelling "Target has escaped, and there's a bit of an obstacle in the way. Requesting backup."

"We're on our way, Flare!" yelled another voice coming from inside the red cyclist's helmet.

In a matter of seconds, three more people in the same type of outfits, one white, one black, and one a dark green. However, these were not wearing helmets. The three bikers got up and threw off their helmets as well, and moved over to meet up with the other three. Now that Robin was facing them down, he could see his enemies more clearly.

Robin could now see that the guy in the red outfit was Hawaiian, with dark brown eyes and black hair. He looked to be about 17 or so.

The one in the blue outfit was a slender, very attractive girl, also about 17, with long, curly blonde hair and deep, blue eyes.

The one in the camouflage outfit was also a girl, but younger, about 14 or so. She had short, red hair and big, green eyes.

The one in the white outfit was an Asian boy, about 15, and he looked like he was working on a tan, but not doing very well. He had jet-black hair and small, grey eyes.

The one in the black outfit was a very pale girl who was about the same height and age as the Asian boy. She had short white-blonde hair and the same small, grey eyes.

The boy in the green outfit was a little overweight, by about 10 or 15 pounds, and looked about 16. He had messy brown hair and brown eyes.

The six teens were about to square off against the Teen Titans when a yellow bolt of lightning sped between them. When the light faded, the Titans could see a boy who looked about 16 wearing bright yellow cybernetic armor in front of them. The boy had black hair and big, brown eyes. He was also wearing a strange device over both his wrists.

"Sorry, guys," the boy said, "No sign of the Replicant anywhere."

"Darn it!" yelled the boy in red, "We'll have to split up and search again."

"You're not going anywhere." Said Cyborg.

"Yeah." Beastboy added, "Superhero rule #1, don't let the bad guys go."

"What!?" yelled the girl in camouflage, "You just did! Don't you get it? We're the good guys!"

(Wow! Didn't see that coming did you? Well, that's the end of chapter one. If you want to see more send me your reviews. Constructive criticism will be appreciated, FLAMING WILL BE PUNISHED. Show me that you want me to keep going! COME ON, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Thanks in advance!)


	2. Chapter 2: Proper Introductions

(I'm back, WITH A VENGEANCE! Wait, no I'm not, I'm ecstatic that people like my story, though I could've used more reviews (HINT!). Now, on with the story.)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter 2: Proper Introductions

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN TEEN TITANS. Claimer: I do own the Elementals

"What do you mean you're the good guys?" Cyborg yelled.

"Wait a minute, you're the Teen Titans, aren't you?" exclaimed the boy in green. "I didn't realize we had gone so far!"

"Yes, we're the Titans," Robin responded "But the question is who are _you_?"

"I'm sorry," apologized the boy in red "Let me introduce myself. My name is Flare, and I'm the leader of the Elementals."

"Elementals?" Starfire inquired.

"Yes," Flare explained "We're a team of heroes with the powers of the elements themselves. Over there in the blue is Cascade, in the green is Gust, Luna and Sol are in the black and white, Volt is the guy in the armor, and that's Flora over there in the camouflage."

"Wait, if you're the heroes, then who did we just help escape?" asked Raven.

"Ze Replicant." answered Luna in a heavy French accent "A devious shapeshifter bent on stealing our powers."

"He's been trying to steal our powers since we started the Elementals," Cascade said sadly. And every time we come close to destroying him, he manages to squirm away!"

"Oops," Beastboy apologized "Sorry about that."

"Do you have any idea what it's rike," Sol asked in a thick Japanese accent "To have an enemy who constantly erudes you? An enemy whose true face you've never seen and probably never will? An enemy whose plans you can never figure out until it's almost too rate? Do you?"

"Yes, I do." was Robin's only reply.

"Why don't you come with us to the tower?" Cyborg offered. "Maybe we can help you find this guy."

"I don't know about that," replied Flare "But I never turn down hospitality."

"Then let us depart." Starfire said happily.

1 hour later

Titans' Tower living room

"Do you always go on patrol so far from the tower?" asked Volt, "It took us an hour to get here by motorcycle with minimal traffic!"

"Although it was pretty cool how you got all our motorcycles and the T-car onto this island with no bridge." Flora stated.

The Titans and the Elementals had just arrived in the tower's living room and were each taking a seat.

"Well, we're not usually leading someone here, so it takes less time." Raven answered as she sat down and opened a book, "Plus we weren't that far away when we started chasing you."

"That's okay, but we really need to hurry and find the Replicant." Volt replied, deciding to remain standing.

"Volt's got kind of an obsession with him." Flora whispered to Beastboy.

"I know what you mean," Beastboy whispered back, "I have to deal with the same thing."

"What was that?" Robin asked, staring at Beastboy.

"Nothing!" Beastboy answered nervously, "I was just asking, uh, if they could do the research on this Repli-guy through dinner." He finished quickly.

"A marvelous suggestion!" Starfire commented, "May they?"

"I'm willing to cook." Gust suggested.

"I guess it's okay," Robin replied, "But I don't know how much you're going to find in our fridge."

Gust got up and walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge door.

"Let's see," he said as he analyzed what was inside, "Okay, I think that green stuff is meat, the black stuff was once cheese, and I have no idea what the blue stuff is, but I think it just growled at me!"

"He told ya you wouldn't find much." Cyborg reminded Gust.

"Believe me, I found plenty!" Gust replied, "But it's no big deal. We have plenty of supplies in the E-jet."

"Dude," Beastboy complained "You had a jet this whole time and you made us take you here by motorcycle?!"

"Well, you never really gave us a chance to go get it." Volt replied in a smart-alecky way. "Which I was about to do anyway. Is it okay if I land it on the roof?"

"Go ahead." Robin told him, "Just be careful when you land."

"Alright then," Volt said, "Be right back!" And with that the devices on his wrists started glowing. Volt touched them together and turned back into a yellow bolt of lightning and sped out of the room.

15 minutes later…

"And the armadillo says 'I ordered the _cherry_ pie! HAHAHA!" Beastboy laughed. Flora giggled slightly; everyone else groaned.

Beastboy had just delivered the punchline to another "hilarious" joke when the eleven teens heard a loud noise near the tower, followed by a short rumbling.

"Finally!" Cascade exclaimed as Volt rushed back into the room. "We were stuck here listening to an endless stream of jokes, no pun intended."

"Welcome to my life." Raven commented, looking up from her book.

"Hello," Beastboy said, waving his arms above his head, "Standing right here!"

"Sorry," Volt apologized (to Cascade), "But we did land the E-jet pretty far away."

"It's okay," said Gust, who had come back and sit down since Volt had left, "I'll just get started on dinner. If I can use your kitchen, that is."

"Fine by me," Beastboy stated, "But just to let you know, I'm kinda a vegetarian."

"No problem," Gust said as he got up and headed for the stairs, "I've been cooking with a vegetarian option since Flora joined the team."

"You're a vegetarian?" Beastboy asked, turning towards Flora.

"Yeah. Hey, just to kill time, do you wanna give me a tour of the city." She asked hopefully, "We could take my motorcycle."

"Sure!" Beastboy replied excitedly, "Let's go!"

"Good idea," Gust said as Flora and Beastboy left, "I'll be unloading supplies from the E-jet for a while before I get started on dinner, so it'll take a little while. You might as well get to know each other better."

"I guess we might as well," Sol answered, "But I don't suppose you guys have a place for Runa and I to meditate whire doing that."

"You two meditate?" Raven asked.

"Sure," Luna replied, "Eet eez 'ow we practice and eenhance our powers."

"Well…how about we go to my room." Raven suggested, "It's pretty quiet in there."

"Feel honored," Starfire told Sol and Luna, "Raven rarely allows anyone within her room."

"In that case," Sol told Raven, "We'll take you up on that offer."

"Let's go." Luna added.

"Well, personally, I'd like to get started on finding the Replicant," Volt stated, "You know, before he gets away."

"I'll help you with that," Cyborg offered apologetically, "After all; it's my fault he got away."

"How 'bout you Flare?" Robin asked, "Wanna come with me and check out our training course?"

"You guys have a training course?" Flare asked eagerly.

"And other stuff for training." Robin responded, "Weight room, dojo, karaoke machine…"

"Wait," Cascade asked, eyebrow raised, "What does karaoke have to do with training?"

"You'd be amazed." Robin said seriously.

"Still, I'd love to check out the training course." Flare said excitedly.

One by one, Robin, Raven, Cyborg, Flare, Volt, Gust, Sol and Luna left the room, leaving Starfire and Cascade alone.

"So, what would you like to do?" Starfire queried, "We might braid each other's hair or play the video games or…"

"How about we just help Gust out with the cooking?" Cascade interrupted.

"All right." Starfire replied, and with that the last two heroes left the room.

Meanwhile…

The clichéd old abandoned warehouse at the edge of town

Thinking to himself in a dark room of this warehouse was a villain who constantly eludes the heroes, a villain whose true face they have never seen, and probably never will, a villain whose plans they can never figure out until it's too late. And I'm not talking about the Replicant.

(Warning: Story picks up next couple of chapters, then becomes less about action and more about explanations, then goes uphill again, FAST! So if it gets a little boring, stay patient, it'll pick up again. LEAVE GOOD REVIEWS and I'll update sooner, FLAME AND I PUSH IT BACK A DAY! And I warn you, I'M A MASTER OF CLIFFHANGERS!)


	3. Chapter 3: Villainous Alliance

(It's probably come to your attention that my story is on the same wavelength as a multitude of things. Let me clear this up right now. I DID NOT RIP OFF YUGIOH GX, I DID NOT RIP OFF ANY OTHER FANFIC AUTHORS, AND (though I doubt it's come to anyone's mind but my own) I DID NOT RIP OFF CAPTAIN PLANET. In fact, in the next chapter, I'll tell you where I DID get the inspiration for the Elementals.)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter 3: Villainous Alliance

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS. Claimer: I do own the Elementals

"Curse those Titans!" Slade said to himself as he paced the room, which was scattered with tools and miscellaneous robot parts, "They have me backed into a corner! After the Trigon experience I was left with nothing, and even though the Titans spent months globehopping, I took little advantage of it to gain supplies. And now, with nearly every other enemy they have frozen solid, there's almost nothing to divert their attention from me! And I can't just go and unfreeze them either, since the area is under high security, and I can't afford to lose the one accomplice I have, let alone go myself! I swear, one day I'll get rid of those Titans, once and for all!"

"I didn't know the infamous Slade talked to himself." Chuckled a voice from the doorway.

Slade turned around to see the source of the voice, and what he saw was shocking.

The man in the doorway was tall and muscular, wearing a black spandex suit. Over his face he wore a mask that was half orange and half black, the orange left half having no features except for a hole for his eye, the black right half having no features at all. The only things that made Slade sure he wasn't looking in a mirror were that 1: the mask wasn't reversed like it would be in a mirror; 2: the man was holding a briefcase and; 3: upon closer inspection, the man's visible eye was yellow.

"Who are you?" Slade demanded, "Show me your true face!"

"Show me yours!" the look-alike retorted, "But I can tell who you are. You're Slade, and your exploits are quite well known."

"Is that why you're dressed like me?" Slade asked, "Are you some sort of copycat criminal?"

"I prefer the term "shapeshifter"" the look-alike responded, "And I'm not dressed like you, I've taken on your form."

"That answers that question," Slade said, waving the look-alike to come in, "But raises several others. Who are you? Why are you here?"

"You can call me the Replicant," the look-alike replied as he walked into the room, kicking aside spare parts, "And I came here fleeing from those wretched Elementals after they blew up my last base, when those Titans you were going on about held them up thinking _they_ were the villains, allowing me to escape.

"I made my way down to this warehouse to hide out, since I knew I'd soon have two teams of superheroes on my tail, when I heard your little speech and realized someone else was here. Peeking in, I saw who it was and, deciding I liked your body, took on your form. I spoke up when you were done and, well, here we are."

"Elementals?" Slade asked, presumably raising an eyebrow.

"A team of heroes with the powers of the elements themselves." the Replicant replied. "I've been trying to steal their powers for a long time now, but it just isn't that simple. Even though I have the ability to absorb the powers of other Elementals, our powers run on different flows, theirs on a positive flow, and mine on a negative flow. If I absorbed them, it would be like getting a transfusion of the wrong blood type. My body would reject it, and it would be fatal if I don't restore their powers to them."

"What do you mean, "Other Elementals"?" Slade asked curiously, "Were you one of them?"

"Yes," the Replicant responded with a sigh, "Over a millennium ago I was the Elemental of Life."

"These heroes have been around that long!?" Slade exclaimed, "Are they immortal?"

"Yes and no." the Replicant responded, "The powers of the elements are immortal, but their vessels are not. When a power's vessel dies, the power reincarnates inside someone else. I, however, gave up my ability to reincarnate for a spell to gain eternal youth."

"All right, that answers that," Slade said, putting his hand to the chin of his mask, "But how did all these powers come around in the first place?"

"I can't tell you how or why these powers came to be." the Replicant replied, clearing off a bench by one of the walls and sitting down, "I only know as far back as my own life goes, back to the last time all the Elementals came together."

"What happened?" Slade asked, taking a seat himself.

"All the Elementals worked together in peace, using their powers to take care of any crises that sprung up." the Replicant said, hoisting his briefcase onto his lap, "However, one of them, namely me, started craving more power.

"I suppose my lust for power started when I discovered my ability to absorb the powers of other Elementals. I first found it when I placed my hand on the Elemental of Lightning. I could feel her powers rushing into me, and the process weakened her powers for life, although since the process was incomplete and there was still some power in her, I only gained a little of her power temporarily. The incomplete absorption process turned my eyes yellow and kept them that way no matter what form I took.

"Over time I learned to control these absorption powers, as well as improving in my own shapeshifting powers, and finally I just couldn't control my greed."

"What happened?" Slade asked curiously.

"The rest of the Elementals found out about my plans and teamed up and defeated me!" the Replicant snarled, "Then they cast a spell on me to keep me from absorbing their powers and burned the book they found it in."

"The whole positive/negative problem?" Slade queried.

"Yes, although I didn't find that out until very recently." the Replicant answered, "I didn't understand what the spell was, but I didn't dare go after the Elementals back then, and these are the first reincarnations that I've found since."

"So obviously you're determined not to let their powers get away from you again." Slade commented, "But how do you plan on getting them with that spell on you?"

"With these." the Replicant responded, opening his briefcase and pulling out a large sheet of paper and a small device the size of a beeper, but with a screen that almost covered it and only a couple of buttons.

"This," the Replicant said, holding up the device, "Is the Elemental Detector, guaranteed to detect any elemental power within a 20 mile radius! And this," he said, holding up the sheet of paper, "Is the blueprint for the Elemental Polarizer, a containment pod that will reverse the flow of an elemental power from positive to negative! These were the only things that I managed to save before my last base exploded, but they were the most useful things I had."

"Very nice." Slade commented, gazing at the blueprint, "Very nice indeed. Let's have a look at the Elemental Detector."

Slade grabbed the Detector and switched it on. The detector's screen lit up, showing a large grid with several dots.

"Hmm, I'm guessing that you don't show up on this thing, seeing as there isn't a dot in the center." Slade said in a questioning tone.

"Correct," the Replicant responded, "It only detects elemental powers on a positive flow."

"Clever." Slade commented, "All right, let's see where these Elementals are. Hmm…"

"What?" asked the Replicant, presumably wide-eyed. "Where are they?"

"There are six of them in Titans' Tower," Slade replied, "And another way off in another direction."

"All right, first of all, how can you tell they're in Titans' Tower?" the Replicant asked.

"Trust me," Slade told him, "If I don't know where Titans' Tower is, there isn't a villain alive who does."

"Okay, that answers that," the Replicant said, looking at the Detector's screen, "But there's another problem."

"And that is?" Slade queried, staring at the Replicant.

"There are seven Elementals, but only six of them show up on the Detector." the Replicant explained, "This means there's another elemental power right in this city!"

"An elemental power? In this city?" Slade pondered, "If this is who I think it is, we might both be able to reach our goals by the end of the night."

"Really? So you could kill the Teen Titans, and I could absorb the Elementals' powers, and then kill them?" the Replicant said excitedly.

"If this elemental power is who I think it is." Slade answered seriously, "But just in case, how long do you think it'd take to get seven of these Elemental Polarizers up and running?"

"Surprisingly, with all the proper materials and a helping hand, about two hours, give or take." the Replicant replied, "But there's one material that I severely doubt you have."

"Which is?" Slade quizzed.

"Well, you have most of the required materials right here in this room, with all these broken robot parts," the Replicant answered slowly, "But the most important material is nowhere to be found. That material is Xenothium."

"Well, you're in luck, then." Slade told him, "I happen to have recently recruited a new apprentice, a thief who specializes in Xenothium heists."

"That's a very strange specialty," the Replicant commented, "But I won't question my good fortune. Can you get ahold of him?"

"Of course." Slade replied, getting up from his seat.

Slade made his way over to a table scattered with tools on the other side of the room. Pushing aside the tools, Slade found what he was looking for: a cell phone. Slade picked up the phone and dialed a number into it.

"Red X here." Said a voice after the first ring.

"X, it's Slade." Slade said into the phone, "I'm going to need some Xenothium."

"How much?" the voice asked.

Slade ran over and looked over the blueprints, doing the math in his head. "Five rods, X." Slade said into the phone, "And take them from your stash. My new associate and I don't have time for you to steal them."

"Five rods straight out of my vault, got it." the voice replied.

"Good," Slade told the voice, "Bring them to my base. You do remember where it is, don't you?"

"Duh," the voice replied, "I've made several deliveries already!"

"Good," Slade responded, "Bring it here. Now, when you arrive, it's likely that nobody else will be here, but on a table you'll find some blueprints. Start assembling the device on these blueprints using the Xenothium and the materials around this warehouse. We'll need seven of these devices. I should arrive with a…guest while you're doing this, and I'll help with the rest when I arrive. After the devices are finished, stick around. You'll receive a…gift tonight, and I could use your help once you've received it."

"It's about time!" the voice said, "You're getting rid of the-"

"No!" Slade interrupted, "Something else."

"Fine, whatever. Red X out." the voice said before hanging up.

"Why wouldn't I be here when he arrives?" the Replicant asked, getting up and turning to face Slade, "I mean, obviously you'd be going to get this other Elemental, but where will I be?"

"It's all part of the plan." Slade said, walking over to stand beside the Replicant. "Now, here's how it'll go…"

Slade whispered something into the Replicant's ear, and when he was finished, the Replicant was presumably smiling sadistically.

"Now, I'm off to get this other Elemental," Slade said as he picked up the Elemental Detector, "Are you sure that you can find where you need to go?"

"Seems pretty easy to find." the Replicant said as Slade handed him a small antennae, "And I know how to get ahold of you once I get there. Let's get going." And with that, the Replicant sprinted out of the room, leaving Slade alone.

"This is going to be almost too easy," Slade said to himself as he left to enact his part of the plan, "But all too satisfying!"

(WOW! Trouble brewing! Red X is Slade's new apprentice, but what does he want Slade to get rid of? What is Slade's "gift", and who is this extra elemental power (AS IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW)? All these questions will be answered (EVENTUALLY!)But I think it's time for the story to slow down. THAT ORIGIN WAS SO FUN, I THINK I'LL DO SIX OR SEVEN MORE. Next up, Flare's origin. REVIEW OR I'LL NEVER UPDATE! SEE YA!)


	4. Chapter 4:Flare's Story

(All right, time for another origin story, AND DON'T COMPLAIN, I WORKED HARD ON THESE AND YOU'RE GOING TO READ THEM WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT! Don't worry though, these origin chapters aren't going to be totally actionless. First up, (pause), YOU KNOW WHAT, JUST READ THE TITLE! Oh, one more thing, when you see the word "meanwhile" anywhere from now on (AND TRUST ME, IT MIGHT BE THE MOST COMMONLY USED WORD HERE), there are different meanings to it. If it appears at the beginning of a chapter, it means at the same time as the beginning as the last chapter, and if it appears later, it means at the last moment of the above text. Enjoy!)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter 4: Flare's Story

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN THE ELEMENTALS Claimer: I do own the Elementals

Meanwhile…

In front of Titans' Tower

"…And that's why karaoke is important to training." Robin explained as he and Flare stepped out of the tower and onto the lawn outside of it.

"Wow! When you say it that way, it does sound important." Flare said, wide-eyed, "How'd you find that out, anyway?"

"Beastboy figured it out on a vacation to Tokyo a while ago." Robin replied with a smile, "He explained it to us and we decided to install a machine in the tower right away."

"Good call," Flare said, grinning right back, "After hearing that, I'd like to get one installed in the E-jet."

"Thanks," Robin responded, "But enough about karaoke. What do you say we tear up the training course?"

"Sounds good to me," Flare said, examining the grassy lawn around him, "But, um, where _is_ the training course?"

Robin walked over to a nearby control panel that was jutting out of the ground. "Right here," Robin said with a smirk, "You ready?"

"Definitely!" Flare shouted confidently.

"Then let's get started!" Robin shouted back.

Robin pressed a big, red button on the panel and suddenly there was a small quake beneath the two heroes' feet, followed by several large machines erupting from the ground all over the island!

"So, just to be clear," Flare asked, "What exactly is it we have to do?"

"Just make it around the island and fight off anything you run into." Robin told him. "A timer will keep track of how long it takes us."

"Got it." Flare replied, taking a stance.

Flare and Robin teamed up and raced around the island, defeating every projectile and robot that came at them with a combination of gadgets, martial arts and fire. Finally they made it back to the control panel and pressed the button to end the course.

"So," Flare panted, "How'd we do?"

"12 minutes, 14 seconds." Robin answered, breathing heavily, "Best I've ever done with a partner, but no record."

"Great, but what _is_ the record?" Flare queried as he dusted himself off.

"10 minutes, 51 seconds. Set by Raven and Starfire." Robin responded, "Why? Do you wanna try and break their record?"

"Maybe later." Flare replied, "But right now, I'd like to see how you fight on your own. How 'bout we spar for a while?"

"Sounds good," Robin said, taking a few steps back, "Let's go."

The two boys bowed to each other and quickly took a martial arts stance. Flare started things off by firing a couple of fireballs right at Robin. Robin quickly jumped behind Flare and retaliated with an exploding disc. Flare spun around instantly and shot a fireball at the disc just in time, causing the disc to explode and a layer of smoke to erupt around them.

Robin rushed at Flare under the cover of smoke, trying to get an easy shot in. To Robin's surprise, Flare reacted not with fire, but with a martial arts move. Using his instincts to sense where Robin was coming from, Flare whipped around and punched Robin right in the face, a move called "Strike of the Blind Serpent".

"Where did you learn _that_ move!?" Robin yelled.

"Like it?" Flare smirked, stepping back as the smoke cleared, "I learned it by training under the True Master."

"Then I bet you'll recognize this move!" Robin shouted back.

Robin jumped back on his feet and hurriedly started running at Flare with his arms outstretched and his fingers curved like claws.

"'Claws of the Iron Bear' eh?" Flare asked, "Trying to use my weight against me? Not gonna work."

Flare quickly jumped straight up, the landed on Robin's shoulders and bounced right off, landing right on his feet, a move called "Doom of the Leaping Monkey", which left Robin lying on the ground again.

"Okay," Flare remarked, turning around to face Robin, "I'm getting the distinct feeling that you trained under the True Master, too."

"Of course I have!" Robin shouted as he struggled to get up.

"Hey, no need to get angry just 'cause I knocked you down a couple of times." Flare said with a smile, "Why don't we take a break?"

Flare sat down next to Robin and watched as a lone seagull flew over the tower and disappeared behind it.

"So," Flare said, trying to break the silence, "Why did you train with the True Master?"

Robin paused. "I did it because I was defeated." He finally said.

"So you went to train with the True Master to be strong enough to win a rematch?" Flare asked.

"Yeah," Robin answered, nodding his head, "And I won. Plus, I learned not to take losses so seriously."

"Not from what I've seen!" Flare laughed, "You're still lying on the ground moping."

"Whatever." Robin grumbled, "Well, why did you train with the True Master?"

"Actually, that ties in with the story of how the Elementals got started." Flare replied, "And it's a pretty good story if you want to hear—WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!?"

Flare jumped up and pointed to the tower door. Scratching up against the door was a giant, very winded looking white caterpillar, at least a foot long!

"Oh, that's just Silkie." Robin said calmly as he got up.

"Silkie?" Flare queried, raising an eyebrow.

"Starfire's pet." Robin explained as he walked over to the door. "Looks like he just wants to go inside."

Robin opened the door and Silkie quickly scurried inside. Robin then walked back over to Flare and took his seat.

"Strange, though," Robin said as he sat down, "I could've sworn that Silkie was already inside."

"Weird." Flare muttered as he sat down in front of Robin, "Well, on with the story…

"I grew up in a very small town on Molokai, Hawaii. I mean _really_ small. So small that the street lights flashed 'mosey' and 'don't mosey'."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Robin asked, interrupting Flare's rant.

"Because," Flare explained, "Since the town was so small, no news ever escaped from it. Like the constant fires after my powers activated when I was 12."

"_Constant_!?" Robin exclaimed, backing away slightly.

"Relax," Flare said calmly, "I'm in full control now. I just wasn't back then. In fact, I tried everything in an attempt to learn to control these powers. Finally, I left the island and started traveling the world in search of a way to control them.

"After a few months, I heard a rumor about the world's greatest martial artist—the True Master—living in a nearby village. Since the martial arts are all about controlling your mind and body to the fullest, I figured he could help me.

"When I finally found the True Master, I found out that _he_ was actually a _she_, and after passing a few tests, she agreed to train me.

"For two years I trained under her, mastering all her moves and eventually gaining full control of my powers."

"Two _years_!?" Robin yelled, "I only trained under her for a week!"

"A week?" Flare snorted, "Why not just take a crash course at the community center? Anyway, I trained under the True Master for two years, and the more I trained, the more I felt as if there were others like me. The True Master told me that I should look for them, but I didn't know where to start.

"Then, one day, I found an article in the newspaper about a flooded amphitheater in L.A."

"Cascade?" Robin asked.

"Yeah," Flare replied, "But I obviously didn't know it was her who caused the flood. Still, I left the True Master and headed for L.A. It took me a while, but after hearing from witnesses about where the water seemed to come from, I was able to figure out who it was.

"When I finally found Cascade, she was drunk, in the worst part of L.A., being attacked by thugs. I rescued her using my powers, and she agreed to come with me. When she sobered up, she showed me her powers over water, proving that she was the one that I was searching for. I offered to help teach her to control her powers, and she happily agreed.

"Just as we were leaving town, though, we had our first run-in with the Replicant, in the form of a thug. He told Cascade he wanted her powers. We didn't understand fully, but I wasn't about to let him hurt her."

"Hang on," Robin interrupted, "How'd he find you two in the first place?"

"First of all, he didn't find us, he found _her_," Flare explained, "And second, I suppose he found her the way I did, by looking at the news and questioning witnesses, though lately he's been getting pretty good at guessing where we are. Anyway, I stepped in front of Cascade to protect her, and the Replicant came charging at me. I shot a fireball at him and knocked him back, but instead of being angry, he was happy that he had found two elemental powers at once. I demanded to know who he was, and he told me to simply call him—"

"The Replicant?" Robin asked sarcastically.

"Duh!" Flare yelled, "After that, he jumped up and came at me again. A fight broke out between us, and he almost got me once, but Cascade kicked him from behind.

When it was over, the Replicant and I were both exhausted, and he decided to make a break for it. He quickly morphed into a bird and flew away, but before he did he made one mistake."

"What was that?" Robin asked curiously.

"He said 'there are more powers where you came from.'" Flare replied, "I knew instantly that more people had these powers, and they needed to be protected and trained. That's why I started the Elementals."

"How long ago was that?" Robin queried.

"That day was over three years ago." Flare said as he stood up. "But enough stories, how 'bout we get back to sparring?"

Flare put his hand out in front of Robin to help him up. Robin took it, stood up and stepped back. The two smiled, bowed and started sparring again.

Meanwhile…

Titans' Tower mainframe computer room

A very winded caterpillar made its way into the room. Rearing back, it spit something up. A small antennae. The caterpillar then quickly metamorphosed—but not into a butterfly. The caterpillar greatly changed in size and shape, into a spiky-haired teen wearing a mask!

_"Okay,"_ the Robin look-alike thought, _"Phase one is complete. Now for phase two."_

(All right, a few more things. First of all, I may not be updating as regularly as I'd hoped from now on, so, you know, JUST WARNING YOU. Second, I apologize on not being more descriptive about the training course, BUT REALLY, IT WAS A SHORT-TERM PLOT DEVICE, so don't be too hard on me. Finally, if you must know where I got the inspiration for this story, IT WAS FROM AN EPISODE OF SAMURAI JACK! The episode called "Jack and the Crystal" where he fought Earth, Wind and Fire to obtain Neptune's crystal. The idea of how powerful the elements could be just kind of stuck with me. All right, hope that clears things up; KEEP THE GOOD REVIEWS COMING AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!)


	5. Chapter 5: Sol and Luna's Story

(Sorry about taking so long to update, BUT MY SCHOOL LIFE HAS BEEN HECTIC. Still, I'm back, and here's another chapter for you!)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter 5: Sol and Luna's Story

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN THE TEEN TITANS. Claimer: I do own the Elementals

Meanwhile…

The Hallway Outside Raven's Room

"Mmph, mmph!"

"See?" Luna told Raven, "I told you 'e could fit 'is eentire fist in 'is mouth."

"And _why _did you show me this?" Raven asked in her usual monotone.

"Because now 'e cannot talk!" Luna whispered back.

"Hmm, nice trick." Raven replied, "I'll have to remember that one. Well, here we are." She said, stopping in front of a door marked "Raven".

Raven opened the door and walked inside. Once in, she gestured for Sol and Luna to come in, too.

Sol pulled his fist out of his mouth and looked around the dimly lit room.

"Nice prace," he complimented, "A rittle creepy, but nice."

"Yes," Luna added as she gazed at all the strange and somewhat mystical-looking objects around the room, "I do not understand why you never let people in 'ere."

"What have we here?" Sol asked, grabbing a hand mirror on Raven's dresser, "I wouldn't have pegged _you_ as a beauty queen."

Raven instantly slapped Sol's wrist, causing him to drop the mirror back onto the dresser.

"Don't touch anything!" Raven warned, "These objects are not toys. There's no telling what could happen if you mess around with them."

"Plus," Luna added, "Your hand was just in your mouth!"

Sol quickly wiped his hand on his shirt.

"Sorry." He apologized, holding his hands out in front of him.

"Why Flare let you 'ave that white outfit, I'll never know." Luna said, shaking her head.

"Maybe we should just start meditating." Raven suggested.

"Good idea." Sol and Luna said simultaneously.

The three teens sat down on the floor and closed their eyes as they each proceeded to rise six inches into the air.

"_Why am I so quick to trust these people?"_ Raven thought as she meditated, _"The last time I trusted someone so quickly he turned out to be a dragon. I mean, they befriended us, infiltrated our tower, and even got me to invite them into my room. I'd better keep a close eye on these people, even if they are on our side. After all, I don't want this to end up like what happened to—"_

"You know," Luna said, breaking the silence, "I could not 'elp noticing earlier zatour powers seem very similar."

"A little early to start talking, isn't it?" Raven replied, "We just started meditating."

"No we didn't," Sol said back, "We've been at it for fifteen minutes now!"

"All right, then," Raven said, opening one eye, "Let's see these powers."

"Let me show you," Sol responded, both eyes wide open.

Sol raised his hand and shot a beam of light from his hand at Raven's bookshelf. One of Raven's books was surrounded by a white aura as it was lifted into the air and twirled around in front of Raven.

Suddenly, the aura faded and the book dropped. Luna, who hand been watching the whole thing carefully, raised her hand and sent a wave of darkness at the book before it hit the floor. The book was surrounded by another aura, this one a dark grey, as it was levitated up and placed back on the bookshelf.

"Did she not just tell you not to touch anything?" Luna shouted as she turned to face Sol.

"It was just a book," Sol remarked, "Besides, I never actuarry _touched_ it."

"You know what she meant!" Luna snapped, "And you still need to be more careful!"

"I can't herp it," Sol whined, "This prace is so dimry rit, and the sun has started setting."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Raven asked, eyes now wide open.

"Our powers increase and decrease during ze day and night." Luna explained.

"My powers increase in the day," Sol added, "And Runa's at night, but the amount of right and darkness around us arso has an effect."

"And light 'as to be able to hit our target from the angle we aim it at, and it cannot be a reflective surface. 'ow do your powers work?" Luna asked, turning toward Raven.

"Through emotion," Raven sighed, "The more intensely I feel, the more power I unleash. I have to meditate every day to keep it under control."

"Pretty much the same as arr us Erementals," Sol commented, "But we arr train in different ways."

"Flare trains in martial arts for total strength and focus, though 'e 'as a weight room in ze plane." Luna added, "And Cascade uses yoga for flexibility."

"Vort doesn't rearry train much, but he uses his suit for some things," Sol interjected, "And Gust uses tai chi for barance. We meditate for concentration, and Frora, who never even uses her powers in a fight, mostry uses more western styles of fighting rike kickboxing."

"All of our powers 'ave been with us since birth, though they activate later in our lives." Luna stated, "Where do your powers come from?"

"I'd rather not talk about it." Raven said with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Don't rike tarking about yourserf, eh?" Sol smirked, "I'rr make you a dear. We'rr terr you one of our stories, and when we're done, you terr us one of your stories. Dear?"

"Deal." Raven agreed.

Sol cleared his throat as all three of the teens closed their eyes again.

"I was born in Kyoto, Japan." Sol finally said.

"And I was born in Paris, France." Luna added.

"In schoor, we got pretty good grades, but our interests were pretty different."

"I studied 'istory to remember ze past."

"And I studied phirosophy to rook toward the future."

"Though we both loved games of strategy."

"Kyoto shogi champion two years in a row."

"Paris chess champion one year, but it would've been two if I 'ad not moved."

"The onry ones to beat either of us in either game is each other."

"Any'ow, when I was 13, my muzzer got a new job in Kyoto, so my family 'ad to move to Japan."

"She started going to the same schoor as me, so I introduced myserf."

"Ze second I shook 'is 'and, both of our powers activated and we both levitated into ze air."

"We thought it was just a coincidence, but it kept happening, and not just around each other."

"Luckily, ze city was crowded and nobody ever noticed, but it was becoming a problem."

"We found that we could rearn to contror our powers through meditation, but we stirr didn't know why we had them."

"Zen, about 14 months ago, we 'it ze jackpot."

"The Erementals had tracked the Repricant to his newest hideout in downtown Kyoto."

"We made ze same mistake you guys did by 'elping 'im escape when ze others were chasing 'im."

"The Erementals were angry, but grad to get some assistance when we agreed to help them."

"Eventually, ze Replicant captured zem, but we were still free. And we 'ad just found a new ability a few weeks ago."

"I can send out surges of right."

"And I can camouflage myself in ze shadows."

"I went in and distracted the Repricant."

"While I snuck in and freed ze Elementals."

"The Repricant was pretty angry."

"But also 'appy about finding 'ze two 'ardest Elementals to find in one place'."

"With the Erementals herp, we managed to defeat him."

"But once again, 'e got away before we could destroy 'im."

"Stirr, Frare offered to make us part of part of the team."

"And 'ere we are."

"Aright, there's our story."

"Now let's 'ear one of yours."

"Okay," Raven sighed, "A deal's a deal. How about the time Starfire and I switched bodies?"

"Sounds good!" Sol and Luna replied.

"Okay, it all began when an unsigned package arrived at the tower…"

Meanwhile…

Titans' Tower Mainframe Computer Room

The Replicant, still in Robin form, picked up the antennae off the floor and walked over to the computer. Luckily, it was already on. The Robin look-alike hurriedly brought up the security system override program. The computer brought up a hand scanner, which the carbon-copy boy wonder responded to by snatching off his glove and placing his hand right on the scanner. The scanner flashed a green light, showing the handprint was accepted.

Next, the computer brought up the "enter password" screen. In response to this, the Replicant placed his hand on the computer and sent a small electric shock through its circuits. The computer automatically typed in the password by itself.

"_And Slade actually believed me when I said that I lost these powers."_ The Replicant thought, _"Important rule for being a villain: Never tell anyone the 100 percent truth."_

Once the computer let him into the program, the boy wonder look-alike instantly entered the accepted handprint program. The Replicant quickly deleted every name on the list and clicked on the "Enter new handprint" option. When the computer flashed "enter new handprint" the Replicant automatically morphed again, this time into the form of Slade.

The Slade look-alike then whipped off his glove and placed his hand on the scanner, and with that the computer flashed "new handprint accepted". The Replicant laughed softly, placed the glove back on his hand, and once again took the form of Silkie.

_"Phase two complete,"_ he thought as he crawled out of the room, _"Now for phase three."_

(Okay, what do you think? By the way, I've decided to hold a poll. I want to know WHO YOU PEOPLE THINK IS THE BADDEST MINOR VILLAIN IN TEEN TITANS. YOU CANNOT VOTE FOR: Slade, Brother Blood, Trigon, Mssr. Mallah, Madame Rouge, Gen. Immortus, the Brain, Red X, or, obviously, the Replicant. Send me your vote and why. IT CAN BE BECAUSE OF HOW STRONG THEY ARE, THE THINGS THEY DO OR TRY TO DO, OR JUST THEIR OVERALL ATTITUDES. For example, my vote's for Kardiak, BECAUSE HE EATS CHILDREN! Send me your votes, TELL ME WHO YOU THINK IS THE BADDEST OF THE somewhat BAD!)


	6. Chapter 6: Volt's Story

(Thanks for the reviews. Sorry this took so long, BUT I HAVE A LIFE OUTSIDE THIS FIC YOU KNOW! Still, I'm happy to keep writing it SO LONG AS I GET SOME FEEDBACK. Now on with the story!)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter Six: Volt's Story

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN TEEN TITANS. Claimer: I do own the Elementals.

Meanwhile…

Cyborg's Room

"Are you sure we should do research here?" Volt asked, looking around, "The tower mainframe would probably be better."

"No way," Cyborg replied, "My computer's much more powerful."

"All right, then." Volt said, staring at the many large, beeping machines around him, "Just one question: Where _is _your computer?"

"Right here." Cyborg said, pressing a button on the machine in front of him. A portion of the side of the machine flipped around and revealed a computer monitor and keyboard.

"Nice hiding place." Volt commented, "Mind if I link up?"

Volt pressed several areas on the sleeve of his armor and a small slot opened below the shoulder. Reaching in, Volt pulled out a cable; the kind used to link between computers, and plugged it into a port on the side of Cyborg's computer's monitor. Volt then pressed several more areas on his armor, which caused the wrists to glow and project a holographic image of a computer monitor and keyboard.

"That thing's a computer!?" Cyborg exclaimed, mouth agape.

"And much more." Volt said with a smile.

Volt quickly started typing on the holographic keyboard, causing both monitors to light up. Using the link between the two supercomputers, Volt accessed every security camera in the city, trying to find out where the Replicant had gone.

"Come on, man," Cyborg complained after twenty minutes of inconclusive searching, "Take a break! Why are you so obsessed with finding this guy anyway?"

Volt pressed a few spots on the armor's sleeves again. Both monitors went blank, the holograms vanished and the cable retracted into its slot.

"He used me," Volt said seriously, "He made false promises and he turned me against the people who wanted to help me."

"Been there, done that, bought the T-shirts and donated 'em to charity." Cyborg laughed, "But it sounds like a good story. Let's hear it."

Volt paced back and forth.

"All right," he said, "But it's a rough one."

"Man, I lost half my body and had it replaced with hardware!" Cyborg told him, "I think I can deal with _rough_!"

"Okay," Volt replied, "But to understand my relationship with the Replicant you'll need to know a little more about me.

"I was born in Newark, New Jersey—."

"Okay," Cyborg interrupted, "Maybe this story is rougher than I thought."

Volt rolled his eyes.

"Very funny," Volt said sarcastically as he resumed pacing, "Anyway, when I was born my mother died of birth complications, so it was just my dad and big brother who raised me.

"I was always advanced for my age, and when I entered school I found out just how advanced. When tested, I found out that I had an IQ of 253!

"After that I jumped from grade to grade, never spending more than a couple of months in any of them. I received a master's degree at age 12!"

"In what?" Cyborg asked.

"Engineering." Volt replied, "I always loved tinkering around with machinery."

"Are you coming on to me?" Cyborg said as he backed away slightly.

"Ugh! No!" Volt yelled, "Anyhow, right out of college I was offered a job inventing new gadgets for the CIA. Before you even ask, I don't know how they found me or why they asked me, but then again that's what makes 'em the CIA.

"I gladly accepted the job, and after a quick company physical I set to work on my first invention.

"After three long months of work I unveiled my creation. I called it 'the Electro-booster', a device worn on the wrist which would allow its wearer to accelerate to speeds faster than the speed of sound, complete with a special suit of armor to contain sonicbooms."

"What happened?" Cyborg asked curiously.

"It was deemed useless due to the fact that it required an immensely powerful, yet portable power source." Volt said bitterly, "And I was demoted to a desk job.

"Less than a week into the desk job, though, I stumbled upon possibly the biggest conspiracy the government had to hide."

"Aliens!?" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Worse." Volt told him, "Much worse. The CIA had been giving taxpayer's money to some guy named Brother Blood as funding for the H.I.V.E. academy for supervillains. Instead of stopping criminals they were giving them money!"

"They were giving money to Brother Blood!?" Cyborg yelled.

"You know him?" Volt asked.

"Know him?" Cyborg said angrily, "He's _my _Replicant!"

"Really?" Volt responded, "At any rate, I threatened the head of the CIA that I would expose his secret if he didn't stop giving them money, but he had other plans. He revealed to me that the antibiotic injection that I had received during the company physical was really an injection of bloodstream nanobots, ready to attack my heart at the press of a button."

"Once again, been there." Cyborg commented.

"You're kidding!" Volt exclaimed.

"Nope," Cyborg replied, "And they weren't easy to get rid of either."

"They were for me." Volt told him, "He instantly activated the nanobots and they started an assault on my heart, nearly stopping it altogether.

"I clutched my hands to my heart in pain when all of a sudden, my powers activated. An electrical current ran through my body, short-circuiting the nanobots and restarting my heartbeat in the process.

"Not knowing what was going on, I grabbed the head of the CIA by his neck and demanded that he tell me. But before he could answer, a current ran through his body as well, crippling him and allowing me to escape. I knew that he would call security any minute now, so I decided I would have to take a chance.

"I put on the Electro-booster and armor and hooked it up to my own wrists. It worked! I raced out of the CIA, vowing to someday reveal their secrets to the world someday."

"So that's why you wear that armor and that gizmo on your wrists?" Cyborg asked.

"Exactly," Volt explained, "Although the armor does more than just contain sonicbooms now. It lets me diffuse power into it for later use, and it can collect power from alternative sources for the same purpose. And, as you've already seen, it's also a computer. And, possibly most importantly, it also gives me something that I, um, don't normally have."

"Control of your powers?" Cyborg guessed.

"No, upper body strength." Volt replied, "Anyway, two days after I escaped, I found out that my dad and brother died in a car accident, or at least that's what 'witnesses' claimed. Not knowing what to do, I started using the Electro-booster to travel from town to town, causing power surges wherever I went. After about a month of this, I met the Replicant.

"He had disguised himself as a young woman this time. He showed me that he had the same power over electricity that I have, though not quite as powerful or with as much potential."

"He does!?" Cyborg asked loudly.

"Did I forget to mention that?" Volt asked, putting a hand to his face, "Well, he does, though I have no idea where he got them. Anyway, he took me back to an apartment that he'd rented and made a deal with me. He told me that if I could prove myself he'd show me how to increase my power exponentially. When I asked how I could prove myself, he told me that two other people with elemental powers would arrive in town soon. He wanted me to bring them both back to him alive."

"And you _agreed_ to it!?" Cyborg yelled.

"Give me a break!" Volt yelled back, "I didn't see any other options! My family was dead, I was on the run from the CIA (although I think they'd decided that I was no threat by then), and he was offering me a place to stay and help with my powers. Besides, how could I have known he was a bad guy back then!?"

"All right, calm down," Cyborg said in his normal voice, which was still pretty loud, "There's no need to get worked up about it."

"Sorry," Volt apologized, "It's just that I get mad when people blame me for being a pawn in his scheme. At any rate, I went out to face these two elemental powers, who turned out to be none other than Flare and Cascade. They tried to talk to me, to convince me to come with them, but I had been warned not to listen to a word they said.

"When it became clear that I wasn't going to let up or listen to reason, they decided that they'd have to start fighting.

"Cascade went first, and despite the fact that her powers were much stronger than mine (everyone's are, not sure why), I managed to take her out by electrifying her own water while she was standing in it. That's when Flare stepped in.

"He used his powers to heat the area to a super-high temperature to create an air lance, blocking the flow of electricity. Of course, it took all of his powers to maintain it, but he could still fight hand-to-hand, a fight that I was sure to lose.

"The next thing I knew I was lying in a tent just outside of town. Instead of killing me, Flare had taken me there and had Cascade heal me. When I got up to fight them, Cascade asked me why I wouldn't listen to them. Deciding to trust them for now, I told them everything. Flare responded by asking me if the woman had yellow eyes. When I said yes, Flare asked me to take them to her.

"When we got to the apartment the Replicant was gone, which pissed me off almost as much as the fact that he had used me in the first place."

"Why?" Cyborg asked, "Because he got away?"

"No, because he gave up on me as soon as I was defeated one time." Volt explained, "Afterwards Flare offered to make me a part of the team. I accepted, but not for the training or protection. I did it to hunt down and destroy the Replicant for what he did to me."

"Okay, I admit it," Cyborg confessed, "That story was rough. And it does explain why you're so bent on finding this guy."

"Yeah," Volt admitted, "Now let's hear your story. Why are you so mad at this Brother Blood guy?"

"It's a long story," Cyborg said, looking at the clock, which was programmed into his left arm, "But we've got time. Okay, it all started when the three former top graduates of the H.I.V.E. academy, Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth, started pulling heist after random heist for the school…"

Meanwhile…

Titans' Tower Garage

Replicant, back in the form of Silkie, peeked into the garage. Seeing that nobody was inside, he automatically spit out the antennae and morphed back into the form of Robin. Quickly, he ran over to the Elementals' motorcycles until he reached Flare's. The Replicant picked up Flare's helmet, reached inside and pulled out a device that looked vaguely like the headsets businessmen use as phones when driving. The Replicant then headed over to Robin's R-cycle and picked up the Titans communicator on top of it, which Robin had conveniently forgotten to take upstairs with him. Quickly pocketing both gadgets, the Replicant instantly dashed up the stairs until he reached the doorway to the kitchen/living room.

Once again he peeked around the wall to make sure there was no one there. This time, however, somebody was. Starfire, Cascade and Gust were all in the kitchen area talking, but, as luck would have it for him, they were all facing away. Taking a chance, he ran across the room as fast as Robin's legs could take him. He kept going down the hall, past the Titans' rooms until he came to a small portrait at the end of the hall.

_"Okay," _he thought,_ "Slade said it would be right here."_

The Replicant pressed his hand against the portrait. The portrait slid back to reveal a hand scanner and keypad. Looking to see if anyone was around, the Replicant took the communicators and antennae out of his pocket and morphed back into the form of Slade. The now Slade look-alike placed his hand on the scanner. Once again, it flashed green to show approval. The Replicant again put his finger to the keypad and delivered a small shock. The passcode again typed itself in.

When it was finished a portion of the wall slid up to expose a doorway. The Replicant walked into the doorway, and right at the end of it was what he was searching for: a silver belt with a big red letter X on the buckle. The Replicant snatched up the belt and walked out. The wall panel and portrait slid back into place as soon as he was out.

Looking around once again, the Replicant morphed back into Silkie and carefully swallowed the antennae, communicators and belt.

_"Good thing this…thing has such a huge stomach."_ He thought as he crawled back. He was almost across the living room when--.

"Silkie!" a cheery voice shouted. He had been spotted!

(There you have it. I TOLD YOU I WAS A MASTER OF CLIFFHANGERS. Oh, by the way, the winner of my poll is…NOBODY! I DECIDED TO POSTPONE IT UNTIL I'M A LITTLE MORE WELL KNOWN ON THIS SITE. SORRY! Anyway, send me your reviews, tell me what you think. OTHERWISE I'LL NEVER UPDATE! Thanks in advance!)


	7. Chapter 7: Gust and Cascade's Stories

(Sorry about taking so long to update, BUT WITH A COMBINATION OF WRITER'S BLOCK, FINALS, THE SCIENCE FAIR, THE POETRY FEST, FREQUENT HEADACHES, AND MY ACCURSED SHORT ATTENTION SPAN I'M SURPRISED I EVER DID, SO BE GRATEFUL! Anyhow, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Prime 2.0 and Agent of the Divine One, who both gave me good ideas. WHETHER THEY TAKE IT AS A COMPLIMENT OR AN INSULT IS UP TO THEM.)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter 7: Gust and Cascade's Stories

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN TEEN TITANS. Claimer: I do own the Elementals

Meanwhile…

Staircase to the Tower Roof

"Thanks in advance for the help unloading the jet, Starfire." Gust said as he, Cascade and Starfire walked up the long staircase to the roof, "Things'll go a lot faster with your help."

"I am happy to be of assistance." Starfire told him, "A burden is always lighter when there are friends about."

"Hey, where's my thank you?" Cascade said huffily, "It was my idea in the first place!"

"Yeah, right! I bet you just didn't want to be alone with her!" Gust whispered, causing the blonde hero to whack him upside the head.

"Do you have any idea how rude that made me sound?" Cascade hissed.

"But you admit it's true?" Gust smirked…before Cascade whacked him again.

"Yes, okay?" Cascade whispered. "She's a little too perky for me. But that doesn't mean you should make me look bad in front of her!"

"I don't have to." Gust replied. "You're doing a perfectly good job of that by hitting me repeatedly!"

"Fine." Cascade said. She then raised her hand toward him…and shot a powerful stream of water right in his face!

"You know what I meant!" Gust sputtered, spitting out a good amount of water as he did. "Starfire'll think that was _very_—hey, she's gone."

"She must've gone ahead while we were talking." Cascade stated.

"Well, duh!" Gust replied. "Come on, let's go!"

The two heroes started racing up the stairs. As they did, Gust tripped and started falling headfirst down the stairs. Almost instantly, the slightly overweight teen placed both his hands straight behind his back and shot out a quick blast of wind, placing him in a feet-first position. Once in that position, Gust shot out another blast of wind, this time from his feet, and maintained them to fly up the stairs. When he reached the roof of the tower Cascade and Starfire were already there waiting for him.

Starfire gasped when she saw him.

"What happened?" She asked. "And why are you so moist?"

"He tripped on the stairs again." Cascade answered for him. "You know, that's really gotta stop."

"And I'm wet because Cascade blasted me!" Gust retorted. "Which has also gotta stop!"

"Stop embarrassing me and we'll talk." Cascade told him. "Now let's go get those supplies."

"_This_ is your jet!?" Starfire exclaimed when she turned around.

Starfire's shock was easily understood, because the colossal silver jet she was staring at was longer than the tower roof, with a wingspan just as wide!

"Yep," Gust said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, "That's pretty much the standard reaction."

"You'd be amazed at how crowded it is when you're actually inside it, though." Cascade stated.

"It is nearly as immense as the ship that took me to Earth!" Starfire proclaimed. "Please, may we go inside?"

"That's the plan." Gust replied.

The two Elementals led Starfire around to a door about six feet in front of the wing. When they reached the door, Gust reached into his pocket and pulled out a card attached to a string. The string held firm in his pocket as the young hero swiped the card into a slot next to the door. A tiny green light flashed and the door slid open.

"Ladies first." Gust said, gesturing toward the doorway.

Cascade and Starfire started to walk in, but Gust blocked them off.

"I said _ladies_, Cascade!" he joked.

"Would you excuse us, Star?" Cascade asked. "We'll be back in a minute."

Starfire watched as Cascade grabbed Gust by the collar and dragged him around to the other side of the jet. As soon as they were out of sight, Starfire heard a sound like a roaring waterfall, followed by Gust screaming "Oh, _that_ was ladylike!"

A minute later, Cascade came back to Starfire's side of the plane, followed by a completely soaked and very angry-looking Gust. Gust raised his hands up in front of him and shot out several quick bursts of wind, drying himself off enough that his clothes were still damp but no longer dripping.

"All right," he said, "I'll admit I deserved that one. Now let's just go."

The three walked into the E-jet and Starfire once again gasped at what she saw. The jet's interior had a very homey look to it, with a small bedroom right inside, which held eight comfy-looking cots (four just to her left, four parallel on the other side) neatly lined up, with a small lamp above each one. There was also a cloth-covered doorway on the walls to her left and right, and a door directly across from her.

"Yeah, it does look nice, doesn't it?" Gust asked.

"Because we're the only ones here right now." Cascade explained. "When all seven of us are in here you feel as if you can barely move."

"But since they're not, how 'bout a full tour?" Gust suggested.

"That would be delightful!" Starfire agreed.

"All right," Gust told her, "Then let's start here, in the bedroom."

"It's mostly for long flights." Cascade interrupted, "When we're on the ground we usually camp out."

"Across from here is the bathroom." Gust went on, ignoring Cascade. "Not much to show; just a bath and shower, toilet, sink, mirror. You know, the basics."

"Speaking of which," Cascade interrupted, "I need to go recharge."

Cascade walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"Please," Starfire queried, "What did she mean by 'recharge'?"

"Cascade's a human sponge." Gust explained. "She stores water inside her, then uses it later. She must be running low, seeing as she just used all of it on me. She's just absorbing water from the sink to store for later."

As soon as he was finished, a monotone of white noise came from behind the bathroom door.

"Oh, she's using the tub." Gust guessed. "Much faster. Well, let's get on with the tour."

"Should we not wait for Cascade?" Starfire asked.

"She's a teenage girl in a bathroom! Gust proclaimed. "It could take her up to 45 minutes!"

Starfire frowned at him.

"No offense." He added quickly. "Anyway, next stop's the cockpit."

Gust guided Starfire through the doorway to the right of where they came in, leading to a small room with two chairs, a big dashboard and an even bigger windshield.

"Amazing." Starfire commented, "It must be very difficult to pilot such an immense vessel."

"Not really." Gust responded. "In fact, Volt installed a special steering device so simple that a monkey could pilot it, though Cascade's still learning. The real trouble is finding parking."

"May I see this steering device?" Starfire asked, ignoring the joke.

"Sure," Gust told her, "They're right in front of the chairs."

Starfire walked right past the chairs and her eyes fell upon…nothing but a GameStation controller in front of each one.

"I know it looks ridiculous," Gust explained, "But it's actually a great idea. Volt figured it would be easier for all of us to fly this thing if the controls were simpler, like a video game. A stroke of pure genius, don't you think?"

"I suppose." Starfire said, not completely sure.

"Trust me, it is." Gust told her. "Well, let's get to the next room on the tour."

Gust guided Starfire back into the bedroom and through the doorway opposite them, leading them into a weight room of sorts. On the front-left quarter of the room there was a bench press, complete with barbell and several extra (and noticeably large) weights. The front-right area had a large set of dumbbells of various sizes, and next to them there was a thick bar supported by two poles. The entire back of the room was empty except for several tumbling mats that completely covered the floor. There was another wooden door in the very back.

"Flare's weight room." Gust explained. "He and Flora are pretty much the only ones who use it, tho—OW!" he exclaimed as a small gush of water hit him in the back of the head.

"That's for the slam on my driving!" Cascade shouted as she walked in from behind. "Don't try to deny it, I heard you!"

"I won't deny it!" Gust said, whipping around to face her. "You're terrible at piloting this thing!"

"Please, no more of the fighting between friends." Starfire pleaded as she stepped between the two Elementals. "It only leads to despair."

"We were never friends, Star." Cascade responded. "Just teammates."

"Even so," Starfire objected, "You should at least try to get along."

"Fine." Gust sighed. "Cascade, how about you finish the tour?"

"I'd be delighted." Cascade said with a smile. "Follow me."

Cascade walked over to the other side of the room, opened the door and ushered the two other heroes into the room.

"It is the most beautiful room yet!" Starfire gushed.

Starfire was right. This room was beautiful, albeit unusual. For one thing, unlike the other rooms, this one had no windows. For another, the entire room was lit by half a dozen sunlamps instead of fluorescent lights. But what really made it both beautiful and unusual was what lay right in front of them. Growing out of four enormous planters in this room was an incredible variety of fruits, herbs and vegetables of every shape and color, enough to get anyone's mouth watering!

"This is Flora's garden." Cascade explained. "She grows all her—and most of our—food in here."

"Flora's an amazing gardener." Gust added. "She knows just what to do with each plant to get it to grow. Each of these planters has plants from a different season."

"They all look delectable!" Starfire proclaimed. "Please, will Flora mind if I have a taste of something?"

"Course not," Cascade replied, "That's what they're here for."

Starfire sniffed the air and almost instantly dashed over to the autumn planter.

"This one!" she exclaimed, pointing at a small blue fruit growing on a short tree. "It smells magnificent!"

"Flora's jenko fruit!?" Cascade and Gust asked simultaneously, their faces scrunched in a mixture of disgust and disbelief.

"Are you sure you're not smelling the one next to it?" Cascade asked.

"Everyone who's had that stuff agrees that it smells like compost and tastes even worse." Gust explained. "Even I don't like it, and I'll eat anything!"

"The only reason Flora even grows it is because of a boneheaded move on Gust's part." Cascade went on. "You see—"

"Don't tell her!" Gust snapped. "If you do, I swear I'll force-feed you every jenko in here!"

"Just try it!" Cascade challenged.

"Please," Starfire begged, turning the heroes attention back to her, "May I just have some of this…jenko, correct?"

"Go ahead," Cascade responded, "But I _really_ don't think you'll like it."

Starfire picked off the fruit and took a big bite. Her eyes bulged out into big pink hearts and her smile grew even bigger.

"Delicious!" she exclaimed, carefully placing the rest in her pocket. "It tastes just like my favorite snack back home!"

"Then why are you putting it away?" Gust queried.

"I wish to share it with someone else." Starfire said with a smirk.

"Who's that?" Cascade asked.

"You'll see." Starfire replied. "Now, may we finish this tour?" she said, gesturing to the door in the back of the room.

Cascade walked over and opened the door.

"After you." She said, motioning for them to come in.

Starfire rushed in, obviously expecting an even nicer room, but was slightly disappointed when she saw it.

This room seemed to have no real theme to it at all. On one side there was a refrigerator, and next to that was a large locked cabinet. On the other side there was a card table with four chairs around it and several board games and decks of cards next to it. In the very back was another door, bigger than the others and made of steel. It had no knob, only a slot for a card key. Next to that, collecting dust in a corner, was a faded yellow motorcycle.

"What is this room?" Starfire queried, a puzzled expression on her face.

"We just call it 'the storage room'," Cascade replied, "For lack of a better word."

"This is the last stop on the tour," Gust explained, "And also where we'll be getting the supplies for dinner."

"Which will be—let me take a wild guess here—fish?" Cascade guessed.

"Hey, it doesn't cost us a dime and it goes bad quickly!" Gust snapped. "Besides, it's pretty much all we've got."

Gust walked over to the fridge and opened the freezer, showing that it was, as he said, nearly full of seafood.

Cascade shot another stream of water in his face.

"I don't care!" she shrieked, "We've been having the same thing for a week now!"

"The rest of the team never complains!" Gust argued, "Besides, what do you care? You barely eat any of it, you walking hat rack!"

"That's it!" Cascade shouted, raising her fists.

"Bring it!" Gust said, raising his own.

Just as the two came at each other, Starfire flew between them and held them apart.

"No fighting among frie…teammates, please." Starfire told them. "There is surely room for compromise."

"Okay, okay," Gust said reluctantly, "Cascade, why don't you choose how the fish is prepared?"

"Deal." Cascade said with a sigh, "I want sushi."

"Sushi?" Gust repeated.

"Hey, you said I could choose!" she argued.

"Actually, I think it's a good idea." Gust told her, putting a stunned expression on her face. "It doesn't need to be cooked, so we can save time; there are vegetarian versions, so I don't have to go too far out of my way for Flora and Beastboy, and it'll give me a chance to use those octopus tentacles." He said, pulling a plastic bag full of octopus tentacles out of the freezer.

"Where did you even get those?" Cascade asked.

"Look, we can stand around all night asking questions or we can get started on dinner." Gust told her. "Which one's it gonna be?"

Cascade was about to respond (probably by blasting him again) when Gust's pocket suddenly started beeping. Gust reached in and pulled out a gadget that looked eerily similar to a Titans communicator, flipped it open, pressed a button and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" he said into the device.

"Gust, it's Flora," Flora's voice rang out, "My motorcycle just broke down."

"That's terrible!" Starfire gasped, putting her hands to her mouth.

"Should I send Volt?" Gust asked, ignoring Starfire's reaction.

"Would I be calling _you_ if I needed Volt?" Flora asked sarcastically. "I can fix it up. I just called to tell you that I might be a little late."

"Okay," Gust replied, "But if you're not back in an hour we're sending Volt."

"Whatever." Flora sighed. "But really, don't worry. Beastboy and I can handle it. Besides, you know Volt hates to be interrupted when he's searching for the Replicant. Flora out."

Gust closed and pocketed the communicator.

"Well," he said, turning to face the girls, "Since Flora doesn't want or need our help, I guess we'd better get started."

Gust walked over to the cabinet and grabbed the padlock. Turning the key (which was already in the lock), he slid the padlock off, opened the cabinet and pulled out two plastic bags.

"I'll get the veggies from Flora's garden." Cascade announced, snatching one of the bags.

"Okay," Gust said slowly as Cascade walked into the garden, "I guess that leaves us with the fish and rice."

Gust ushered Starfire back to the fridge, handed her the bag and started piling in seafood. When he was done, the bag was full to bursting.

"Do we really need so much?" Star asked as Gust closed the freezer door.

"Yep." Gust said, walking back to the cabinet. "Sushi's really good, but it's not very filling. We're going to need a lot if we're feeding twelve."

"I see." Starfire said, nodding her head. "And what exactly _is_ sushi?"

"I'd love to tell you," Gust responded as he dug through the cabinet and struggled to pull out a large bag of rice, "But if I did, you wouldn't eat it."

Starfire laughed, a high-pitched and cheerful laugh that might've shattered a thin wine glass.

"You would be surprised at what I would and would not eat." She told him.

"In that case," Cascade said as she walked in, her bag now nearly as full as Starfire's, "I'd rather not know what you _wouldn't_ eat."

"Hey, Cascade," Gust said as he tried to haul out the particularly large bag of rice, "While you're hovering over me, could you grab the wasabi and soy sauce? And some chopsticks, too?"

"Whatever." Cascade sighed as she reached into the cabinet, grabbed what he'd asked for and crammed it into her bag.

"Great," Gust proclaimed as he picked up the rice—though he was clearly struggling to hold it up, "Now we can get going."

"Perhaps you wish to trade first?" Starfire said sweetly, exchanging her bag and easily holding up the rice with one hand.

"No wonder she was able to hold us apart." Cascade muttered.

"What, no comment on how I should work out more?" Gust whispered sarcastically, rushing to the steel door before Cascade could respond (or blast him again).

Gust once again pulled out his card key and swiped it through the slot. The door slid out and to the left, leaving the three heroes looking at the tower roof once again.

The three heroes stepped out of the jet (the door automatically closed behind them), and headed back down the stairs to the kitchen/living room.

"All right," Gust said once they'd set all the stuff down, "Since Flare isn't here to help, we're going to have to cook this rice the slow way."

"Great," Cascade groaned, "All right, I'll handle that, you get chopping."

Ignoring the horrible pun, Gust pulled out a knife, cutting board and a fish and started carefully slicing as Cascade started on the rice.

"And what may I do to assist?" Starfire queried, eager to help as always.

"You could get out some plates." Cascade suggested, holding the bag of fish over the steam.

"And then you could help me with the chopping." Gust said as he took the bag from her.

"As you wish." Starfire said cheerfully as she walked over to the cabinet and pulled out several plates that looked as if they'd never been used. "This may yet be a feast reminiscent of Tameran."

"Tameran?" Cascade repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Is that your home planet?"

"Yes, it is." Starfire said as she placed the dishes on the counter and went to help Gust, "And such a wonderful place, too."

"Well, what's it like?" Gust asked.

Starfire launched into a conversation telling them all about Tameran's history, people, and food, and had just started telling them about how she came to Earth, at which point they were done slicing and had moved on to clumping up the rice.

"Torn from the perfect life, huh?" Cascade commented, snatching up a handful of rice.

"We've been there." Gust added bitterly, placing a piece of fish on a clump and putting it on a plate.

"Really?" Starfire asked, turning to face them. "What happened?"

"It's a long story." The two Elementals replied together.

"We have time in abundance," Starfire told them as she went back to clumping the rice, "And I would love to hear your stories."

Seeing the look on Starfire's face, Cascade and Gust sighed, turned to face each other and played a quick game of rock-paper-scissors. Gust won, so Cascade went first.

"Okay," Cascade sighed as they turned back to what they were doing, "Here's my story.

"I come from a lower-middle class family in North Dakota, complete with an overworked mom and a drunken dad. When I was thirteen—"

"Did you just hear something?" Gust interrupted, whipping around to the living room area.

"Such as?" Starfire asked.

"I don't know." Gust said as he turned back around. "Footsteps, I guess."

"I didn't hear anything." Cascade told him. "Now, where was I?"

"'When you were thirteen.'" Starfire informed her.

"Right, thanks." Cascade said, nodding her head. "When I was thirteen I won a singing contest and found that I had a real talent for it, and after a few more contests I got an agent and started on my way to becoming a pop sensation!

"I started making a name for myself in CD's, and finally, after only a year, I had my dream realized. I got my own concert in L.A.! That's when it all came crashing down."

"What happened?" Starfire asked in a sympathetic tone.

"My powers activated." Cascade snarled. "And right in the middle of the performance! The entire amphitheater was flooded, and the publicity was so bad that my career ended before it started! I couldn't even bring myself to go home because of an argument with my parents before I left, so I headed to the slums to solve the problem the way my dad does."

"She got drunk." Gust said, rolling his eyes.

"I did not know Earth people sold such things to children!" Starfire gasped.

"_People_ don't, Starfire." Gust laughed. "But scum formed in the worst part of Los Angeles, however, would sell alcohol to an infant as long as they had the money."

"He's right," Cascade agreed, "Which is why that next week is kind of a blur to me. But the next thing I remember was showing Flare my powers, then a quick encounter with the Replicant, and even that's fuzzy, though I do remember him saying 'there's more powers where you came from', which is why Flare started the Elementals. I instantly agreed, seeing as I had nowhere to go. Besides, I'm the type to embrace new things."

"Oh, please," Gust said in a smart-alecky voice, "When have you ever embraced _me_?"

Cascade turned to face Gust and once again he was saved as Cascade noticed something in the corner of her eye.

"Hey, Starfire," Cascade asked, pointing to the living room area, "What exactly is that?"

Starfire turned to see what Cascade was pointing at—a foot-long white caterpillar moving across the room.

"Silkie!" she shouted in a cheery voice, flying down to pick up the now scurrying mutant.

"Silkie?" Gust and Cascade repeated simultaneously, turning to watch as Starfire scooped the struggling worm into her arms.

"My bumgorf," Starfire replied as she flew back up the them, "And just who I wanted you to meet."

"How…cute." Cascade commented as she stared at the caterpillar, which seemed to be trying very hard to avoid eye contact with anyone.

"Silkie," Starfire cooed, staring down at the creature, "Your k'norfka has a treat for you." She then turned to Gust and asked, "Could you please hold him for a moment?"

"Uh…sure?" Gust replied uncertainly as Starfire handed him the struggling worm, which instantly stuck its head in his pocket and slurped something up.

"Hey!" Gust shouted, seeing the mutant caterpillar slurping up a string like spaghetti as it pulled its head out of his pocket, "It just ate my card key!"

"Relax, Gust," Cascade told him, rolling her eyes, "Volt can make you a new one later. Besides, it's not like Silkie here's gonna _use_ it."

"Silkie, if you are hungry, try this." Starfire said, pulling the jenko fruit out of her pocket and shoving it into the caterpillar's face. "Go ahead, it tastes just like your favorite; it tastes just like zorkaberries!"

Slowly, almost reluctantly, the mutant worm took a bite of the fruit, and as soon as it did, it swallowed and made a face.

"I don't think he likes it." Cascade pointed out.

"Strange," Starfire commented, the usual smile fading from her face, "Usually even the mention of zorkaberries not just gets Silkie to eat anything, but is even enough to bring him running from another room."

As if it understood her, the giant caterpillar bit down on Gust's finger, causing the overweight Elemental to drop him and allowing the mutant worm to scurry down the living room and around the corner into the hallway. Almost instantly, Silkie came scurrying back around the corner and came up to nuzzle Starfire's leg, drooling as he looked up at the fruit.

"Looks like he wants to give it another try." Gust observed, massaging his finger.

"Maybe he just wanted to run around a little before eating." Cascade suggested.

"Perhaps." Starfire said uncertainly as she picked up Silkie, "He was feeling heavier than usual before."

"All right," Cascade said impatiently, turning toward Gust, "I told my story, now it's your turn."

"Okay." Gust sighed, watching as Silkie eagerly wolfed down the jenko, obviously having had a change of heart about it.

"I was born into a rich family in Virginia. My parents owned the world's most popular airline, and I was set to inherit it. Obviously, due to the free use of airlines and new airports opening up all the time we weren't home much."

"I am sorry." Starfire said sympathetically, "It must have been difficult to move around so much."

"Save your sympathy, Star." Cascade commented, rolling her eyes. "The sad part comes later."

"Cascade's right for once." Gust agreed—though he still got a dirty look from his teammate. "I loved traveling. I learned the basics of several languages and cultures, which really helped out in the Elementals. I also got to see lots of different places, and my favorite, I got to taste lots of different foods, which is why I learned to cook, but that's another story. _This_ story picks up about two years ago on a plane trip back from Mexico on one of the family jets, when everything started going downhill."

"How so?" Starfire asked.

"Same thing as Cascade." Gust said with a frown, "My powers activated. A tornado started up in the plane and tore it apart at the seams. The pilot and I survived because he had a parachute and I somehow _miraculously_ floated down to safety, but my parents weren't so lucky.

"I was taken home and, as per their will, I inherited the house and fortune, as well as the business when I came of age, but I didn't care.

"Over the next week, weird things kept happening."

"Such as what?" Starfire asked curiously.

"I started jumping higher, falling slower, and tripping whenever I started running, but only when I didn't have my shoes on." Gust replied. "I found out later that it was because unlike other Elementals, whose powers run through their hands, mine ran through my feet, too."

"But you were just flying with your shoes on." Starfire objected, raising an eyebrow.

"Volt designed him special shoes with thousands of holes on the bottom." Cascade explained. "He can fly, but he still falls all over himself when he runs."

Gust cleared his throat, turning attention back to him.

"Anyhow," he said, "After about two weeks of this, I hit a ten on the weird meter.

"What happened?" Starfire gasped, squeezing Silkie so hard that he tasted jenko a second time.

"Flare, Volt, Cascade, and the Replicant—in the form of an old man—burst into my house. When I demanded them to tell me what they were doing, the Replicant told me that I was the Elemental of Wind (which, from the way things were going, I actually found easy to believe), and that I had to come with him or I would be in terrible danger. The Elementals tried to insist that he was the bad guy and that I had to come with them, and neither side could fight the other for fear of losing my trust, so—"

"So then we hit a _twenty_ on the weird meter." Cascade interrupted. "Gust looked at both sides for the total time of about 1.5 seconds, then automatically chose ours," Cascade turned to face Gust, "And I still don't get why you did."

"I already told you: I trusted my gut!" Gust explained impatiently. "It tends to be right, after all."

"No, it tends to be _huge_." Cascade said stubbornly, "And I still don't think that that's the real reason."

"Well, it is!" Gust shouted, glaring at Cascade. "Oh, and about my gut: better too much than not enough!"

"Why you—" Cascade shrieked as she balled up her fists, ready to clobber Gust.

Starfire tossed Silkie onto the couch and once again flew between the two Elementals.

"May we _please_ simply finish the story?" Starfire pleaded.

"Oh, right, the story." Gust responded as he and Cascade calmed down. "Well, as soon as I chose the Elementals, the Replicant somehow managed to creep up behind me and tried to grab me, but Cascade blasted him from behind ("A debt he's yet to repay." Cascade added). The Replicant turned into a falcon and flew out the window before anyone could stop him. For my own safety, I went with the Elementals, and I even took one of the family jets, which we later remodeled into the E-jet.

"Okay, there's my story." Gust said, turning toward the kitchen. "Can we please stop talking and go back to cooking?"

"Yeah, because it'd just _kill_ you to make conversation." Cascade said sarcastically.

"You didn't seem too eager to share your story!" Gust argued.

Starfire put her hand to her cheek. It was going to be a long night.

Meanwhile (again)…

Titans' Tower Mainframe computer room

The Replicant, now in the form of Robin, stood next to the computer, using his cape to wipe a layer of blue slime off of Robin's communicator.

"At least this cape is good for _something_." He muttered to himself as he placed the communicator next to the already-cleaned belt, card key, and communicator and picked up the antennae. "I can't believe she keeps that disgusting worm as a _pet_! As if I needed another reason to hate turning into invertebrates! Ah, here we go."

The Replicant picked up the now-clean antennae and placed it on top of the computer. A window automatically popped up on the screen, with the words "sending message". Almost instantly a masked face appeared on the screen. However, it wasn't Slade's.

This mask was white, in the shape of a crudely drawn skull with a red letter X in the forehead, one line of which went right over the right eyehole. He was wearing a black spandex suit (or something similar to spandex, anyway) with another red X on the chest, with black leather gloves to match. He also had a black cape lined with red velvet on the inside, and a belt just like the one the Replicant had just stolen, but clunkier-looking and dirtier.

"Robin!?" the masked teen exclaimed in what sounded like a garbled version of Robin's voice.

"No, Replicant," the shapeshifter responded, "And you must be Red X. I believe Slade's message told you to await contact from me?"

"That's right, but Slade _himself_ taught me never to fully trust messages that aren't given in person., but I guess he wouldn't risk letting the Titans contact us otherwise." Red X said in an annoyed tone. "Still, I'm going to need you to prove who you are before I tell you anything. Take off your mask."

"Why?" the Replicant asked.

"Slade's note said that you're a shapeshifter, but you always have yellow eyes. Besides, the _real_ Robin would never take off his mask in front of me."

The Replicant removed his mask, revealing the bright yellow eyes underneath.

"All right," Red X told him, "I'm almost done with the second Polarizer (Red X moved to the side to show the two containment units in the back of the room), but woudn't it be easier if—"

Red X's suggestion was cut short when a figure came through the doorway.

It was Slade, and he was carrying a scrawny figure, bound and gagged but still squirming nonetheless. Slade turned to glance at X and the monitor.

"You'd better have proof that that's not Robin, X." Slade said in his quiet-but-menacing voice.

"H-he has yellow eyes, doesn't he?" X stammered.

"Fool." Slade said—harshly, but still calm and quiet. "For all you know, that could be Robin wearing yellow contact lenses! That note was a test to sort out useful information from unimportant information, and you failed!"

"Well, what was I supposed to do?" Red X shouted.

"The note said he was a shapeshifter." Slade told him. "It doesn't matter what color his eyes are, no Titan can change their form into anything that isn't green. Now, 'Replicant'," he said, turning to the monitor, "Let's see you change form. And if he can't, X, it'll be your head!"

"Certainly, Slade." The Replicant said as he put the mask back on and morphed back into the form of Slade.

Red X breathed a sigh of relief.

"Congratulations, X." Slade said. "It looks like you'll live to see another day—so get back to work on those Polarizers! Now, how about a status report, Replicant?"

"Robin let me right in!" the Replicant laughed. "I had a close call with the alien girl, though, but I managed to get everything you asked for—and a couple things you didn't. I even managed to retrieve Red X's belt, just like you asked ("Good," X commented, "This homemade one's a real fuel-guzzler."). The accepted handprints have been reset—password's 'Gordanian', by the way—and I'm currently hacking into the live videofeed. How about you?"

"Excellent," Slade responded, "I had a small delay, though; Beastboy and some girl's motorcycle broke down in front of my destination, so I had to double around to get back unseen. On the bright side, however, the extra Elemental was exactly who I suspected."

Slade held the scrawny figure into the light for the Replicant to see.

"_That's_ the extra Elemental!?" the Replicant gaped.

"You know this one?" Slade asked, sounding just the tiniest bit surprised (which is the most surprised anyone's ever heard out of him).

"Long story, too much to do." The Replicant said, picking up Robin's communicator and gently pulling it apart to reveal the circuitry inside. "Maybe you should start helping X with the Polarizers, Slade. This could take a while."

"Which brings us back to what I was saying before." Red X said. "Couldn't you just build one Polarizer for _yourself_?"

"Two problems with that," the Replicant said as he started pulling wires apart and carefully reattaching them in other places. "One, the pods don't just reverse the power flow; they also render the power itself dormant, so I couldn't use my own powers, which I'm rather fond of; and two, and more importantly, once a power reaches full negative, nothing can reverse it, so it'd be a waste of time and Xenothium."

"Oh, that reminds me." X said, turning to Slade. "You miscounted on the Xenothium, Slade. We only needed three rods for seven of these things."

"You're right." Slade told him, "I _did _miscount. I thought it would take four."

"Then _why _did you ask for _five_!?" the Replicant and X asked simultaneously.

"Red X's belt was low on fuel when Robin stole it." Slade explained. "I need it fully charged for tonight."

"What!?" X shouted, dropping his tools. "Why?"

"You'll be facing another test tonight, X." Slade replied ominously. "I want you to incapacitate every Titan and Elemental _on your own_. Replicant," he said, turning back to the monitor, "Start filling X in on the Elementals' weaknesses while he works. I'll be back to help after I've stored this rod."

Slade snatched up the rod and ran out of the room.

15 minutes later…

"Done!" the Replicant proclaimed to Red X and Slade, who were just finishing the fourth Polarizer. "I've hacked through both communicators, and the feed from the tower security cameras is clear as a bell!"

"Excellent." Slade commented, "What are the Titans doing?"

"Starfire, Cascade and Gust are making sushi in the kitchen;" The Replicant answered, "Sol, Luna and Raven are meditating in Raven's room; Cyborg is talking to Volt—something about Brother Blood ("He would be." Slade commented.)—in his room; Flare is fighting Robin outside (wow, I've never known anyone but Flora to fight Flare so evenly); and I don't see Flora or Beastboy. Probably still back at your target destination."

"Good work." Slade told him, "Get to work on the security system and keep us posted in the meantime."

"Will do, Slade."

Another 15 minutes later…

"I've seized control of the security system." The Replicant reported.

"And the Titans?" Slade asked, turning away from the halfway-done sixth Polarizer.

"Let's see…Cyborg just…detatched his _arm_!? Oh, wait it's completely mechanical. Volt seems impressed, too; Flare just got knocked down by Robin—ooh, that looked painful—and now he's getting up; Starfire just started setting the table. She's putting down a potted plant (at least I think it's a plant, and if it is it's only budding); Gust and Cascade just started fighting again, and Starfire's trying to stop them; Raven, Sol and Luna are still meditating…"

"Man, who knew these hero-types were so boring at home?" Red X complained.

One last 15 minutes later…

"Flora and Beastboy just walked in, soaked with—is that gasoline? How can they be covered in gas? Their motorcycles are electric!"

"I'm not sure I wanna know the answer." X commented, turning around.

"Just tell us what they're doing." Slade said, sounding more bored than usual.

"They're sitting down to eat, of course!" the shapeshifter snapped. "And if you'd hurry up I wouldn't have to bore you!"

"Hurry up?" Red X laughed, "We're done! We finished ten minutes ago!"

"Why didn't you bother to tell me, then?" the Replicant asked angrily.

"We were waiting for Flora and Beastboy, of course." Slade said in his scary-calm voice. "Now, X, grab the webcam, I don't want them to know you're here. Replicant, deliver the message, so that my plan may reach fruition."

"You got it!" the two said simultaneously, though in very different tones.

The Replicant typed something into the keyboard. A new window appeared…

Meanwhile…

Titans' Tower kitchen/living room

Beastboy and Flora had just sat down and scooped a pile of cucumber rolls onto their plate when the living room section's giant-screen TV lit up and displayed a familiar masked face.

"Greetings, Titans; Elementals." The masked face greeted. "Hope you've had a nice night—and I know you have—because it's about to end."

"Slade!" Robin shouted, causing everyone to jump out of their seats and take a fighting stance.

"Slade!?" Flare repeated, "I've heard of him. He's supposed to be the baddest criminal in the state! Is that what he looks like?"

"That may be what Slade looks like, but that definitely isn't Slade!" Volt yelled, pointing at the screen. "Look at his eye—it's yellow!"

"He's right!" Sol exclaimed.

"Where did you learn that form, Replicant?" Gust demanded.

The Slade look-alike grinned—or, at least, they thought he did; who could tell with that mask on?

"I met the real Slade, of course." The Replicant told them. "Would you like to as well? I know he would."

"What do you mean?" Robin seethed. The Replicant responded by hitting a key on the keyboard underneath him. The screen split in two; the top half displaying the Replicant, the bottom half showing the real Slade.

"Hello, Titans." Slade said, calm as ever. "And these must be the Elementals. Pleasure to meet you, especially since after tonight I won't have the chance."

"And vhat do you mean by zat?" Luna asked cautiously.

Slade ignored the question. "I think that I have something you may like to see." He told them.

"Yes, I think they would, Slade." The Replicant agreed.

"Oh, yeah?" Cyborg shouted. "And what's that?"

Slade walked offscreen for a moment as the Replicant started explaining.

"You see," he told them, "My new acquaintance Slade recently found another elemental power right in this city; One whom most of you should recognize."

Slade walked back on screen, this time carrying a thin and clearly bound and gagged hostage in the shadows. As he placed it in the light they could clearly see who it was.

It was a very scrawny girl wearing a blue-and-white school uniform. She had long blonde hair that had been badly messed up in the kidnapping, and enormous blue eyes that were currently wide with fear.

Beastboy's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Terra!?" everyone but Sol, Luna and Flora exclaimed.

(Whew, THAT WAS A LONG ONE. And it would've been even longer IF SOME THINGS HADN'T ENDED UP ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR. Here are a few events from deleted scenes:

Gust tripping over a red-hot vent on the roof and Cascade showing off her healing powers on him, then whacking him for his carelessness.

Red X asking why they couldn't just chuck the extra Elemental into a Polarizer right away, then the Replicant telling him that he should know the Polarizers are all attatched to the same Xenothium core and it would take too long to recharge.

Another "15 minutes later" sequence involving Sol and Luna teaching Star how to use chopsticks, Beastboy belching and then Flora belching louder, and Flare arm wrestling Cyborg, then winning when he breaks Cyborg's arm off.

THE ENTIRE FLORA/BEASTBOY CHAPTER. TRUST ME, IT SUCKED, CONTAINED NO SIGNIFICANT INFORMATION, AND FRANKLY I'D LIKE TO TELL FLORA'S ORIGIN AS ITS OWN STORY, AND TERRA'S, TOO.

There were more, BUT SEVERAL SLIPPED MY MIND.

I also want to apologize to all Flare/Cascade supporters, THEN CRUSH THEIR HOPES BY TELLING THEM IT'S NEVER GONNA HAPPEN.

Also, BEING A GUY WHO MAKES A LOT OF MISTAKES, I updated my profile with tips to keep others from making the same mistakes. Take a look; EVEN A WRITER WITH LOTS OF EXPERIENCE MAY LEARN SOMETHING.

Finally, I'm offering up a contest. SLADE TOLD THE REPLICANT TO GIVE RED X THE ELEMENTALS' WEAKNESSES. Anyone who can name Flare's gets the next chapter dedicated to them. AND I WILL NOT COUNT WATER AS ONE OF FLARE'S WEAKNESSES! Send me your responses, and YOU KNOW THE DRILL: REVIEW OR I NEVER UPDATE! SEE YA!)


	8. Chapter 8: Faceoff

(Sorry I took so long to update, everybody, BUT I'VE HAD MORE GOING ON THAN EVER. STILL, THIS CHAPTER WILL hopefully MAKE IT ALL WORTHWHILE. IT TOOK ME MONTHS TO WRITE IT OUT, BECAUSE I JUST WOULDN'T SETTLE FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN MY ABSOLUTE BEST. Also, if you haven't guessed by now, I WAS BEING SARCASTIC WHEN I SAID THAT ORIGINS WERE FUN. I HATED IT EVEN MORE THAN YOU DID, but I needed filler, and this is all I had. BUT NOW THE REAL ACTION CAN BEGIN. HERE GOES!)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter 8: Face-off

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS (OR THE MOVIE WITH THE SAME NAME AS THIS CHAPTER). Claimer: I do own the Elementals (and this chapter with the same name as a movie)

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"_You_ know Terra!?" Cyborg and Volt yelled, pointing at each other.

"She was a Titan!" Robin shouted.

"She was an Elemental!" Flare bellowed at the exact same time.

"Well, well, well." Slade said, his monotone slightly happier than usual. "This is turning out better than I expected."

"Though I doubt it will for Terra!" the Replicant laughed. "After all, her life could be measured in minutes right now!"

"See these hands?" Slade asked, showing his hands before placing them on Terra's throat. "I could snap the girl's neck in an instant if I wanted to."

"Ze Replicant would never be so quick to kill an Elemental!" Luna shouted.

"Maybe so," Slade said, almost (but not quite) laughing. "But I'm not the Replicant, am I? And I'm not going to be quick about it. It's no fun if you don't at least have a chance of saving her. Besides, you know I like to prolong the pain."

"Slade is in the abandoned warehouse outside of town." The Replicant explained.

"How clichéd is that?" Gust muttered under his breath.

"So clichéd that you'd never think to look there otherwise!" the Replicant snapped, obviously having heard him. "As it is, you have one hour to save the girl. Don't bother trying to call in help," he said, holding up the stolen communicators. "Because I've blocked your communicators' frequency. Oh, and don't bother trying to come up with a plan from inside this cushy tower, either, because I control everything here, and the second I hit this lockdown button you'll have about two minutes to escape before you're sealed in here--."

"While the Replicant helps himself to Terra's powers." Slade finished. "After all, why let them go to waste if you're not coming and I can kill her on screen right afterward?"

"You creeps!" Flora seethed, closing her eyes and clenching her fists. "Using an innocent girl as bait! When I get my hands on you, I swear I'll tear you apart!"

Slade turned to face Flora.

"You have potential, child." He told her. "Too bad you don't seem too willing to tap into it."

"Yes, a pity." The Replicant agreed. "But enough of that. Engage lockdown!"

The Replicant leaned over and pressed another key. At once, an alarm sounded and the images of the two villains disappeared to be replaced by a digital clock counting down from two minutes. A layer of steel started closing down over the windows.

"Let's get to the jet!" Cascade shouted over the alarms.

"No good!" Cyborg said, grabbing her arm. "The tower starts sealing itself from the roof down. The doorway's already sealed and can only be opened by and approved handprint, which somehow I don't think we have right now!"

"Well, there must be something we can do." Flora pleaded. "Some of us can't make it across the city on foot in one hour!"

"We don't have to." Beastboy said, a new determination in his voice. "Follow me!"

"Just hurry," Robin said as everyone (including him) ran through the doorway to the stairs. "Before the--."

A laser shot out of the camera above the door, narrowly missing Gust.

"Indoor defense system activates." He finished.

Flare and Robin took the lead, using Robin's exploding disks and Flare's fire to knock out any cameras they came across. When they got to the bottom they came to the garage, but they didn't stop there. They swerved around a corner into another staircase and ran until they hit a small room containing nothing but a large, strange-looking orange vehicle. The vehicle was an unusual oblong shape divided into five sections, each topped with a bubble dome.

"This is the T-sub." Cyborg said proudly.

"No time for bragging." Raven said harshly. "Just get in."

Cyborg pressed a button on his arm and a hatch opened on every section. Each of the Titans grabbed the nearest Elemental or two and pulled them into a section of the sub. Raven and Cascade jumped into the left section, Beastboy took Flora and Sol into the right, Robin and Volt had the middle, Starfire and Flare landed in the front, and Cyborg, Gust, and Luna, the lucky ones, crammed uncomfortably in the back. As soon as they were in, each Titan pressed a button and the hatch doors closed behind them.

"No time for checkups!" Robin shouted. "Just turn everything on and open the door!"

All at once, the Titans started pressing buttons and flipping switches. Lights came on on the front of the sub and engines started rumbling. Finally, Cyborg pressed one last button and a giant, spiral-shaped steel door taking up the entire wall in front of them slid back to reveal a tunnel. The Titans grabbed the steering wheels and pressed forward. The sub lurched forward and shot down the tunnel, but as it did, the steel door started slowly closing behind them.

As the sub picked up speed in the tunnel, it ran into a much bigger problem: there was another spiral-shaped steel door at the end of the tunnel, and it was currently in the act of closing, too!

Sol and Luna gasped, Gust and Cascade let out a scream, and Flora clung tightly to Beastboy as their last hope of escape continued to slowly close up, but the Titans (except Beastboy) remained stone-faced, and continued full-speed ahead through the closing hatch with, oh, _inches_ to spare.

After the vessel passed the dangerous obstacle, it made a sharp upward turn that propelled it out of the bay and into the sky. The twelve heroes breathed a sigh of relief and cheered as they looked back at the shrinking T-shaped tower (my God, DID IT REALLY TAKE ME THAT LONG TO MENTION THAT?) as the ship sped forward toward the edge of town.

"All right," Flare commented, "Now let's get to that warehouse!"

"Wait!" Cascade shouted suddenly, "What about Silkie? He's still in there!"

"It's okay," Raven reassured, "The security system doesn't detect insects. Though I'm not sure how safe he'll be with the Replicant still in there."

"Uh, d-dudes, I don't think the Replicant is still in there!" Beastboy stammered. "Look behind you!"

Everyone turned around to see a colossal silver jet speeding toward them, clearly intent on ramming into them.

"I can't believe he hijacked the E-jet!" Volt screamed as Raven managed to skillfully swerve the sub out of the jet's path.

"_That's _your jet!?" Robin, Cyborg, Beastboy and Raven exclaimed.

"Toldya that's the standard reaction." Gust said, though hardly in the same cheerful mood as the last time.

The jet swerved around behind them, once again attempting to ram the sub. Beastboy managed to steer the T-sub away from the front of the attack, but left them with another problem.

Beastboy's maneuver had dodged the attack, all right, but unlike Raven's, he moved only just far enough to avoid it. When the giant plane passed the ship at its high speed, the tailwind sent the T-sub spiraling out of control!

As the jet turned around to finish them off, Robin surveyed the situation. There was one way that they could avoid having the sub completely totaled, though he'd have to take one for the team, and it'd really hurt his own chances of getting to the factory in time. _"But it's better than our chances now." _He decided.

"Titans, separate!" he yelled.

Each Titan flipped a switch and the five sections of the vessel divided into five individual ships. The four other ships regained control just in time, but Robin's piece remained stuck where it was as the jet rammed into it. The force of the blow sent the ship careening backwards into a steel building, where, after making a rather large dent, it fell a good 150 feet into the strangely empty road. Thankfully, the pressure-proof hull that's a must for all submarines saved the two from any serious damage.

"Are you two okay?" Flare asked via transmission.

"We're fine." Robin reported, "But the ship may have gotten damaged when we hit the building."

"No, they're fine." Volt said, surveying the damage, "But the ground route may be safer, anyway. Just maintain your course and we'll meet you at the warehouse."

"No promises, dudes." Beastboy joked, but grimly.

"Seriously, just go!" Volt snapped, "We'll catch up!"

"How are we supposed to cross the city on foot in an hour?" Robin demanded after the transmission cut off. "It took us that long on our motorcycles with almost no traffic!"

"Relax," Volt said slyly as he bent down onto the street. "I can get us there faster than any motorcycle. Hop on my back."

"No way." Robin said, crossing his arms.

"Hey, you think I'm gonna enjoy giving you a piggyback across town?" Volt snapped. "But it's the only way. If you hold on any other way you'll go flying when I stop, or maybe even sooner. So, unless you want an innocent girl to die, I suggest you hop on!"

"Good point." Robin said, climbing onto Volt's back and wrapping his arms around his neck.

"Hold on tight." Volt warned.

Volt held up his hands and clenched his fists. The Electro-booster on his wrists started glowing. Robin watched as he touched them together. At first, everything seemed the same, until Volt started running. The tall buildings became blurs as they passed them at super speed. As Robin looked up, though, he could see the sky was pretty much the same as before. The sun was long past set and it was getting late, which meant all the city's lights were being turned on, which was good because Robin could clearly see what was going on in the sky.

The pieces of the T-sub were gaining a slight lead over the E-jet, but it was catching up quick. It rammed into another section (Starfire's) and sent it careening down toward the street. The section of the T-sub disappeared behind a building. It apparently managed to pull up, though, as Robin saw it shoot back up a minute later.

The Replicant was gaining a commanding lead, and the Titans were falling behind. Clearly, the T-sub was faster when whole.

Soon enough, the streets around them became less urban, and the warehouse came into view. It was old, broken-down, and rusted over, and the size of a large one-story house with big, open front doors leading into a room too dark to see from this far away.

The Replicant had already landed the E-jet (a rough one by the looks of it) beside the warehouse and apparently already entered.

Volt slowed down and eventually skidded to a stop near the doorway.

"Should we go in?" Robin asked.

"Wait for the others," Volt panted, pointing at the faraway vessels over the town. "Besides, I need to catch my breath."

After what might've been the longest five minutes of Robin's life, the four pieces of the T-sub finally landed next to the jet. The hatch on each section opened and the Titans and Elementals disembarked.

"How'd it go for you guys?" Volt asked, addressing Flare.

"The Replicant rammed everyone a couple of times." Flare replied. "Damaged the engines a little. Slowed us down, but we made it. You?"

"After the crash, the most challenging part was getting Robin to climb on my back. No problem."

"Well, now that we're all together, we need a plan." Robin announced. "We can't just bust in on Slade, or he'll kill Terra on the spot!"

"Good point." Flare agreed. "Volt, scout this place out. See if there's another way in."

Volt nodded. The Electro-booster on his wrists started to glow. He pressed them together, turned into a yellow lightning bolt and sped around the warehouse.

"There are a couple of doors," he reported, stopping in front of them ten seconds after leaving. "But they're all locked. We could force 'em open, but the noise would alert them right away."

"Windows?" Flora asked.

"All boarded up. No way we'd get through one of those quietly."

"We courd sprit up and have one team distract them…" Sol started.

"While ze uzzer attacks." Luna finished.

"Good luck pulling that off," Cyborg told the two of them. "With your communicator's frequency—THE COMMUNICATORS!" he suddenly shouted, ripping a tiny microphone out of his arm and crushing it in his fist.

"What about them?" Gust asked urgently.

"They might not've just tapped into the frequency to stop us from splitting up or calling for help," Cyborg told him. "They might also be listening in on us!"

"You think?" Cascade gulped.

"It's happened to us before." Raven said, throwing her communicator to the ground and levitating a rock over to crush it. "Better safe than sorry."

"She's got a point," Gust agreed, throwing his communicator to the ground and stomping on it. "We can't afford to take any chances."

The heroes agreed, took out their communicators, and destroyed them.

"Now that that's over," Volt said. "We need to figure out how to go about this. They'll be prepared for any attempt at a surprise attack."

"That's an oxymoron." Sol pointed out.

"But 'e's right." Luna agreed. "We'll 'ave to play along for now."

Flare nodded, picked up a rock, walked over to the doorway and heated the rock in his hand until it glowed faintly white.

"What are you doing?" Beastboy asked.

"No way I'm goin' in there without checkin' for security systems." Flare told him, tossing the rock in as hard as he could. The rock eventually hit the floor with a dull "thud". "No heat or motion sensors." He pointed out.

"Good idea checking what's in there," Cyborg commented. "I'll do a bioscan to see if they have backup." Cyborg's mechanical eye extended slightly and he went silent for a minute. "Okay," he finally said. "Aside from a couple rats, there are three main organisms in there. Slade—."

"Duh." Beastboy interrupted.

"Terra—."

"Of course." Robin commented.

"And one that looks like Robin."

"The Replicant must've morphed." Flora shrugged. "Now let's go already!"

"Flora is right." Starfire agreed. "We will not accomplish anything by remaining here. We must take action!"

"Way ahead of you, Star." Said Robin, who was already standing by the doorway. "Let's go!"

One by one, the heroes filed in, and found themselves in a large, dark room. They could see from what little light they had (Cyborg's glowing red eye and a dim light Volt had set his armor to produce) that the floor was littered with machine parts, and there was a doorway across them that led further down a hallway too dark to see.

All of a sudden, several small ceiling lamps hanging from a metal girder above them flickered on with a dull light, and something hit Cyborg in the back!

"Hey, what the—?" was all that he had time to say before his normally blue exposed circuits turned grey and he slumped over and hit the floor, not moving.

"What happened?" Cascade gasped. "Is he—?"

"No," Robin told her. "Just his battery. But how?"

"I have an idea." Raven said, looking at what had hit him. It was a large, red letter "X" made out of a strange material.

"Red X." Beastboy concluded.

"Give the boy a prize!" said a voice from above. It sounded weird, like Robin's through a cell phone with bad reception. The eleven heroes looked up to see a teenager in a black outfit, a skull-shaped mask, and a silver belt (all adorned with a red "X") crouching on the girder above their heads. "You've won one of _these_!"

Red X raised one of his gloved hands and shot another X out of his palm. It expanded in the air until it was about two feet long, and stuck to the floor behind Beastboy, narrowly missing him.

"Ha! Missed m—!" he laughed before getting hit by a bigger, wider, blunter X and knocked back into the previous one. "Gross!" he shouted. "It's all slimy!"

The effect was immediate. Beastboy's legs were completely glued to the floor by the gooey X. He morphed into a gorilla in an attempt to break free. No go. He tried an elephant. No better. He tried going through several form to try and get out. A frog. An eagle. A T-rex. An ostrich. All that he succeeded in doing was completely covering himself in the sticky goo. "A little help?" He shouted, back in his human form.

"I'll take care of him." Flare said, pointing his hand at Red X as a fireball appeared within it.

"No!" Robin shouted, knocking Flare's hand down. "That suit is powered by Xenothium, which explodes when overheated! If you hit that suit, you'll blow us all sky high!"

"He's right. Good luck fighting me without your powers." Red X taunted, before shooting two X's just like the one on Cyborg out of his hand, one at a time. The first hit Volt in his armor's chestplate. The second hit him in the face. Volt's armor retracted into the Electro-booster on his wrists to reveal a skinny-but-hard body in a yellow jumpsuit as he pried the X off his face. "Or you without powers _or_ your armor!" Red X laughed. "Like my power suckers? 'Cuz Cyborg sure did!"

"A true warrior can fight without armor!" Volt retorted. _"Why did I say that?"_ he thought right after saying it. _"I'm no warrior."_

"Sure, but can you?" Red X replied, jumping onto the floor and shooting out another X, not very long but two feet wide. The X wrapped around Volt's legs, binding them together as Red X ran up to him and kicked him in the chest, plowing him into the wall behind him. "Apparently not." He jeered. "I think you guys are underestimating me. I'm the city's top thief. How 'bout some recognition?"

"Here's your recognition!" Cascade shouted from his right as she held up her hand and shot a stream of water at him. The thief turned and produced a large X whose lines got wider as they extended outward. He spun this X in his hand and provided a buffer for the attack.

"You know," he commented as he tossed the X aside. "That probably woulda been stronger and harder to block if you didn't waste so much of your power on your own teammate." With that, he fired another X, a lot like the one he bound Volt with, which wrapped around Cascade's arms, binding them to her sides. "Oh, well. Too late now!"

"Ret's see you brock this!" Sol shouted from his left, raising his hand and firing a white beam of light straight at Red X.

"I'll do one better!" Red X reported, turning toward Sol as another X materialized in his hand. This one was the biggest yet! It was almost as tall as Red X, and twice as wide! It was also very shiny. Sol could see a distorted version of his reflection in it. "I'll reflect it!"

As soon as the beam of light hit it, the beam shot off back from whence it came, as Sol was surrounded by a white aura. Red X quickly rotated the X to the right, and Sol was swiftly knocked into Cascade and both of them hit the back wall and slumped over. The second they hit the floor, Red X shot two more X's at Sol. These were smaller, about as big as a large grapefruit each. They hit Sol's hands, covered them, and contracted around them. Sol's hands were stuck balled up into fists.

"Try this then!" Raven seethed from behind him. "Azerath, Metrio—."

Raven was in the process of levitating several large, blunt pieces of metal when Red X whipped around and shot another X that attached itself firmly to her mouth, stopping her mid-chant. As soon as the pieces of metal dropped, Red X shot another large, flat X, which plowed Raven into the wall behind her. Before she could even slump over, though, a dozen more X's appeared in Red X's gloved hands. These were small, not even as big as his hand. They were perfect in turn symmetry and very sharp-looking. Red X tossed the shuriken-X's at Raven, narrowly missing her head, neck, chest, arms, and ribs, but pinning her to the wall instead. Raven struggled, but she couldn't break free (or remove the cloak) in this position.

"It's like you're not even trying!" Red X complained.

"Oh, I can be very trying," Gust shouted from above. "Just ask Cascade!"

"Thank you for the diversion, Raven." Starfire (who was flying next to Gust) said. "We shall take it from here."

Gust positioned his arms to face down toward Red X and shot a powerful, continuous burst of wind, blowing Red X back into a wall and pinning him against it. As soon as he was held in place, Starfire began to pelt him with green energy bolts from her hands and energy rays from her eyes. The thief conjured up another X, this one large enough to cover his face and chest, in an attempt to block the starbolts and rays, but after a minute it seemed to start to give out. With great difficulty, Red X raised his right arm and shot two paperback book-sized X's at Gust's feet, where they stuck firmly to the soles of his shoes.

Without wind blowing underneath him, Gust began to plummet to the floor. Red X rushed at him as this happened. Starfire took aim and fired her star rays as he neared Gust.

Red X's reaction happened in the blink of an eye. He jumped up and bounced off of Gust's head as he fell. The star ray hit Gust and pushed him back against a wall next to Cascade. Red X landed on his original perch (the metal girder on which the lamps were hung) and fired out a three-foot-wide X at Starfire, which caught her arms and pinned her to the wall opposite Gust. He then shot out four more X's: An adhesive X that went over Starfire's eyes, stopping further star rays, two constricting X's that clamped over her hands to halt starbolts, and a binding X that landed on Gust's legs before he could get up.

"Wow, this is tough." The thief shouted sarcastically. "I almost broke a sweat back there."

"How'd you like to break something else?" Flare threatened, raising his arm toward Red X as another fireball appeared in his hand.

"Flare, no!" Robin shouted.

"You'll kill us all!" Volt agreed.

But Flare didn't listen. He shot the fireball up at the girder. But the fireball didn't hit Red X. It didn't even come close. It hit the lamp hanging beneath him, destroying it and making the light in the room even dimmer. Flare then repeated the action several times, knocking out every lamp in the room. The only light left now was the faint red glow coming from Red X's belt buckle.

"All right, Luna," Robin heard Flare shout. "You know what to do."

"You 'ave got eet, Flare!" Luna's voice replied.

Robin turned toward the source of her voice. He could just make out Luna's pale skin in this darkness. At least, he could for a second. In an instant, Luna began to fade from view, disappearing into the darkness. Within a few seconds, she was gone completely.

Or was she?

"Hey!" Red X shouted. "Where'd you go?"

"Thieves and veelains are not ze only ones 'oo can 'ide in ze shadows, _mon ami_!" Luna's voice replied from somewhere near the thief. "'Eroes are just not afraid to come into ze light."

At once, Red X staggered back, nearly falling off the girder. Luna had clearly flown up and hit him. Red X twirled and regained his balance, just before the unseen Luna hit him again, this time knocking him off and sending him hurtling back-first towards the floor.

Before he could hit the floor, though, Red X fired another X at the ceiling. This one had three very sharp points that curved up, and a much longer fourth one that curved down from the others and was still attached to the palm of the glove. The pointed ends shot up, hit the ceiling and stuck there, and as soon as they did, Red X stopped falling, suspended a foot above the floor.

Robin and Flora (who could tell his location by the glow of his belt) rushed at him, but before they could reach him, Red X gave the X a sharp tug. The elongated line of the X retracted, pulling the thief with it until his head was about a foot and a half below the ceiling. Robin and Flora (not seeing each other) collided and knocked each other over.

"You okay?" Robin asked, jumping to his feet.

"Fine," Flora replied, jumping up as well. "But forget about me. Focus on Red X!"

Red X, in the meantime, had taken advantage of the time they used by firing a dozen more X's in various places on the ceiling. These were about the size of the computer monitor you're looking at right now, and their backs stuck firmly to the ceiling when they hit it. As soon as they affixed themselves, the X's started to emit a faint glow, enough to (barely) illuminate the room.

With more light in the room, Luna's camouflage became less effective. She appeared as a shroud—more of a shadow than anything, but visible nonetheless, floating about four feet to Red X's left.

Red X then conjured up another X in his hand. This one was similar to the one he was currently hanging from, with one extremely long ending in his palm, but the rest was different. It was slightly bigger and much more flat than the end of the other X. Red X twirled this new tool like a lasso and flung it (never letting go of the long point) at Luna. The weapon hit her square in the ribs and stuck there, momentarily stunning her and giving X a chance to tug her line and pull her closer. Luna recovered and started to raise her hand in an attempt to blast him. Red X, however, swung around her and cocooned her in the elongated X.

"You're not nearly as good at fighting head-on as you are at stealth," Red X chided as he grabbed the now-cocooned Luna around the waist and swung back. "Not that either one'll help you now."

With that, he tossed her over to one side of the room.

Luna closed her eyes and braced herself for the collision with the hard floor and possibly sharp pieces of metal, but it never came. Instead, she hit something softer (though not by much) that felt like it was moving slightly. Cautiously, she opened her eyes. She was lying on Sol! He ran across the room and broke her fall (and miraculously not any bones)!

"Thanks." She sighed.

"No probrem." He gasped, having had the wind knocked out of him.

"How touching," Red X commented as he swung back onto the girder and let go of the X, sounding very much as if he was about to throw up. "But it's a little late for teamwork to do you any good now."

"It's never too late!" Robin shouted.

"Yeah," Flora agreed. "We're still here!"

"Please," Red X chuckled, "You can't even reach me! Robin used up all his toys fighting Flare, and Flare'll kill us all if he blasts me! Plus, I can take out all three of you from right here! Face it, you can't—OW!"

Red X's rant was cut short as a birdarang (expertly tossed by Robin) struck him in the back and knocked him off-balance. Robin then tossed an exploding disk (his last one), which, as its name implies, exploded when it hit Red X in the back. Red X was once again knocked off his perch, and, before he could even raise his arm to fire another X, Flare jumped up and pinned the thief's arms to his sides in a bear hug before landing on his feet.

"Used up all my toys, huh?" Robin repeated with a smile.

"Can't reach you, huh?" Flare quoted, holding the struggling thief tight. "So, what now?" Flare asked, turning toward Robin.

"Get his belt off." Robin instructed. "Without it, he can't use any more weapons."

"Right." Flare nodded, and carefully yet forcefully moved his arms further around Red X as he reached for the belt buckle.

"Ain't gonna happen." Red X told him. Red X moved his hands up and back (the only way he _could_ move them at this point) and conjured up two more X's. These X's were about seven inches long, formed from one straight line with a sharp end and a dull end, and a curved line with two sharp ends through it with the endpoints to the left and right of the sharp end of the straight line, which faced outward from his hand. They kind of looked like small tridents with very short handles.

Red X jammed the sharp X's into Flare's thigh. Flare winced in pain—a situation that Red X took full advantage of as he used the muscular hero's lapse in focus to break free of his powerful arms. Red X turned to face Flare as the hero ripped the X's out of his thighs and threw them aside.

"Like that?" the thief laughed. "Well, I bet you'll like this even more!"

Red X held up his hands and conjured another dozen X's in each hand. These were about as long as the last ones, though shaped like normal X's with long, sharp, skinny lines, and he held them together like poker hands.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" Flare asked.

"Yes," Red X replied. "That's _exactly_ what you should be."

Everyone still capable of seeing what was going on watched as Red X threw the 24 X's to the floor. At first, nothing happened, but after a second the X's began to move. Each X joined with another, forming twelve eight-pointed shapes. Then, each line bent 90 degrees halfway between the point and the center. The X's stood up on their eight points, making them look like weird arachnids.

"Get 'im, boys!" Red X commanded the spider-X's, which began to march toward Flare, who, instead of regaining a fighting stance, seemed to go very still, his eyes wide and unblinking.

"What's up with him?" Beastboy asked nervously.

"Entephobia," Volt explained. "The fear of bugs." He elaborated, seeing the look on Beastboy's face.

"He can out-wrestle a bear, he can bench more than his own weight, and he can eat a whole plate of jalapeños without breaking a sweat, but he still freezes up whenever he sees a cockroach." Cascade said, rolling her eyes.

"Eet eez annoying, to say ze least." Luna commented.

"That'd explain his reaction to Silkie," Robin said. "But these aren't even real!"

"I don't think it matters much." Red X laughed. "But don't take my word for it. See for yourself!"

Red X was right. By now the spider X's were crawling all over the utterly petrified Flare. They swarmed over him and clamped his legs and arms together. Two made it up to his face and covered his eyes and mouth. When all the X's had stopped moving, Flare went limp and fell face-first onto the floor, not moving.

"_Didn't expect him to faint,"_ Red X thought, _"But I guess that makes this even easier."_

In the time it took Red X to think this, Robin pulled a retractable bo staff from his belt and rushed at the thief, plowing him back into a wall.

"Time for some answers!" Robin demanded, pressing the staff up against Red X's chest. "Why were you sent here?"

"I don't take orders from you!" Red X retorted.

"Then why are you taking them from Slade?" Robin argued.

"And why is he sending a henchman if he has a hostage?" Flora added.

"And you wonder why I don't like to play the hero?" Red X choked, raising his arms to the staff. "If the facts aren't right in front of your eyes, you take forever to find them. Try reading between the lines once in a while."

At that, Red X stomped down on Robin's foot and pushed him back. As Robin reacted, Red X conjured up yet another weapon. This X was about two and a half feet long and a foot wide. The top points of it were very sharp, and the bottom ones were pretty dull, with two other, shorter lines cut through them perpendicularly near the bottom. Red X gripped the dull points under the perpendicular lines and pulled. The one X became two, in the form of twin swords!

Red X lunged at Robin with his new weapons. Robin held up his bo staff and pressed it down against the swords, halting their movement.

"Not bad," Red X commented. "But I can do better." Red X pressed the swords up against the bo staff as hard as he could. Robin resisted to the best of his ability, but after a few seconds the bo staff was sent flying.

Red X raised the swords and delivered a swipe from each of them. Every hero in the room except for Cyborg, Flare and Starfire (who couldn't see at the time) grimaced in expectation of seeing Robin sliced open, but instead all that happened was part of Robin's outfit's chest fell open. Red X hadn't cut Robin, he'd just slashed an "X" into his chest in a Zorro-esque feat. But instead of being relieved, Robin looked angrier than ever.

"Do you ever stop clowning around?" he yelled.

"You want me to stop joking?" Red X asked. "Fine. Prepare for the toughest fight of your life!"

Red X raised his sword-X's and prepared to slash Robin again. Just as he approached, though, Robin countered by forcefully kicking the swords out of the thief's hands and toward the wall—or so he thought. One of the swords was bound for the wall, all right, but the other was headed straight for Cascade's throat!

Cascade's eyes went wide as she watched the blade approaching her diaphragm, but as it neared her, it changed course at the last minute and landed harmlessly a few feet away. Then she saw how it had happened: Gust had raised his unbound arms and blown it off-course!

"Ha!" he shouted, pointing both his index fingers at Cascade. "I now owe you _nothing_!"

Gust's celebration was short-lived, though, as another X flew at him and clamped around his hands, holding them together.

"Shoulda seen that coming." He sighed, lowering his arms.

"And Red X should see this!" Flora shouted, charging at the elusive thief in an attempt to land a punch.

"Give it a rest, kid." Red X replied, jumping aside and grabbing her wrist as she passed. "I want a real fight." With those words, he spun her around to face him and delivered a powerful kick to her ribs, letting go as he sent the heroine crashing into the wall behind her.

"Now," he said, turning back toward Robin. "Where were we?"

"Right _here_!" Robin shouted, aiming a powerful roundhouse kick at Red X's chest. However, Red X easily caught his ankle in mid-kick.

"_Please_ tell me this isn't the best you can do." Red X implored.

"Not even close." Robin smirked, using his free foot to jump up and kick his white-masked adversary just above his pelvis, releasing his grip and sending them both skidding back a few feet.

"Better," the thief commented. "But not good enough to beat me."

"We'll see." Robin said with a scowl.

"Bring it on, bird-boy!" the thief laughed.

Robin rushed at Red X with his arms out in another attempt at "Claws of the Iron Bear". When he hit Red X, though, he was stunned at the result: Red X had barely moved back an inch!

"Needs work." Red X said. "This is some challenge, all right. Right up there with brushing my teeth."

Robin didn't respond. He was too confused.

"_Why did that fail again?"_ he thought. _"That's the strongest move I learned in that training!"_

Red X, in the meantime, took every advantage of Robin's momentary pause and threw him into the wall behind him, just missing Raven.

"This is just sad," the thief said. "You're making this too easy."

Robin just glared and pressed off against the wall in a running start in an attempt to punch his masked adversary, but Red X stood his ground and countered with a low sweeping kick, knocking Robin to the floor. Red X then produced another X, this one with a four-inch line situated near the bottom of a three-foot-long, sharp, curved line, like a katana.

"Time to end this." The X-themed criminal said, raising the blade and pointing it down at Robin.

Robin rolled aside just in time to avoid the blade as Red X thrust it down, then grabbed the thief's ankle and pulled, causing the thief to drop his weapon of the minute and come tumbling to the floor as well.

Robin and Red X then both jumped into the air and performed a flying kick, colliding in a perfectly symmetrical display.

"Getting better," Red X said as he and Robin landed perfectly on their feet. "But still not good enough!"

"Then try this!" Robin shouted as he pulled out his last electric disk and tossed it onto the thief's chest for a direct hit. Red X screamed and flailed as his body was consumed in a blue light before slumping to the floor.

"Extra-powerful." Robin explained. "I was saving that one for a really tough fight."

"Too bad it was a total waste!" Red X laughed, jumping to his feet.

"How did you—?" Robin stammered, his jaw dropping. "How can you be—?"

"You may have made this suit, Robin," Red X replied. "But I made a few improvements. Here's another one!"

Red X clenched his left fist and raised his right arm and fired another X straight at Robin, this one a foot long and fairly normal-looking compared to his other gadgets, and was traveling at a much slower rate than his other projectiles. Robin leapt aside and dodged the projectile easily before it affixed itself onto the wall behind him.

"Ha!" he taunted. "Missed by a mile!"

"I was hopin' you'd do that." Red X said, supposedly grinning as he unclenched his hand to reveal a tiny X with a button in the center. Red X hit the button, and as soon as he did, Robin felt a pull at his waist from behind. The X on the wall was a magnet, and it was pulling in his belt! In an instant, Robin was pinned to the wall, and to add insult to injury, several of the robot parts that littered the floor were, too.

Robin reached down to try and take off the belt, but before he could even come close, Red X fired two more X's that bound his arms to the wall. Then, just for good measure, he also shot two at Robin's legs, binding them to the wall as well before he deactivated the magnet-X, allowing the parts (but not Robin) to drop back to the floor.

"And the last goody-goody is down for the count." Red X said. "Too bad, though. I was just getting started."

"And you're about to be finished!" shouted a voice from behind him.

It was Flora. She had regained her composure after being kicked aside earlier, and was now charging at Red X with a new look of determination on her face as she hit him with a full-on tackle, knocking him to the floor. Red X jumped up and immediately produced another weapon, this one essentially one narrow line as long as he was tall, edged with two tiny prongs on each side.

"Cheap shot," Red X said, holding up his new bo staff-X. "Not exactly the stuff of heroes. You've got potential. If I didn't have bigger priorities, I'd invite you to be my partner in crime. Pun intended."

"And I'd say no!" Flora replied, glaring daggers at him.

"Too bad," Red X sighed. "You'd make a great partner. Oh, well."

Red X jabbed Flora in the stomach with the tip of his new weapon, knocking the wind out of her and leaving her defenseless from a swipe of his staff that sent her across the room and into the wall. Red X fired another sticky-X to finish off his last opponent, but unlike this gadget's past victims, Flora (having regained her ability to breathe properly) ducked and rolled aside to avoid it.

"Nice work, Flora." Volt cheered.

"You can beat this guy, no problem!" Gust shouted encouragingly.

"Isn't that what you guys thought about yourselves?" Red X queried. "And look at where it got you!"

That shut them up.

"Glad we agree." Red X said before raising his staff and rushing at Flora. Flora ducked aside and grabbed an object off the floor: Robin's bo staff.

Flora swiped the staff low as Red X approached, knocking him off his feet before jumping up on her own.

"Still think I'm not challenging enough?" she asked, pointing Robin's staff at him in a menacing fashion.

"I'll admit you're good," the thief replied. "But I'm better."

Red X swiped his own staff at Flora's legs, but she jumped back several feet just in time. Red X, however, took advantage of her distance to boost himself up with the X-staff and jump back several feet, too. Then he held up his weapon in both hands and rushed at Flora. Flora, instead of attempting to avoid it, mimicked the thief's move and rushed at him herself.

What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion.

Just as Flora and Red X were about to collide, Flora pointed one end of Robin's staff on the floor and pole-vaulted over Red X's head, dropping the staff and landing perfectly on her feet before delivering a powerful kick to Red X's back that took him so off-guard that he dropped his own staff in surprise as he skidded forward a couple of feet. Flora then kicked Robin's bo staff back into her hands and charged at Red X, this time hitting her mark and pressing him up against the wall next to Sol and Luna.

"Face it, X," Flora told him, pressing the staff hard so as to prevent the thief from escaping. "It's over."

"I couldn't agree more, child." Said an eerily calm voice from the hallway. "It _is_ over."

Everyone except Flora, Flare and Cyborg turned toward the doorway and watched as two figures stepped out. Both were very tall and muscular, wearing black spandex suits, black leather gloves, and black-and-orange masks that covered everything but their left eyes. Not a speck of skin showed on either of them. In fact, they looked completely identical, except for the fact that one's visible eye had a yellow iris, while the other man's eye didn't have an iris at all.

Well, that and the no-irised man was holding the bound-and-gagged Terra, with one arm wrapped around her chest and his other hand on her neck.

"Drop my apprentice," Slade said, nonchalant as ever. "Or I snap the girl's neck."

"Apprentice?" Robin repeated. "I should've known."

"Yes, you should have." Slade agreed. "And I'm amazed you didn't. This was his biggest test yet," he said, turning toward Red X. "And X, I'm afraid that you've failed. If I were you, I'd be very worried about my life, seeing as after tonight I may no longer need you. And I believe I told you to let him go." He repeated, addressing Flora.

Flora dropped the bo staff and Red X dropped to the floor, gasping for breath.

"Get up!" the Replicant commanded, glaring at Red X.

The thief obeyed and pushed himself up with great effort.

"Now, turn around, girl!" the Replicant told Flora.

Flora closed her eyes in frustration and heeded the instruction.

"Bind her to the wall, X." Slade ordered.

Red X obeyed and fired an X identical to the one that attached Starfire to the wall, with the same effect on Flora.

"Now, round up the Elementals," Slade instructed. "And line them up."

Red X forced Sol, Luna, and Cascade to their feet and walked them to the doorway to the hall in turn. He had some trouble with Gust and Volt, whose legs were bound, until he ordered Sol and Cascade, respectively, to help them. He struggled to lift Flare's large form, but eventually he just shoved off the now-motionless spider-X's and conjured another X identical to the one he used on Luna and wrapped it around the unconscious hero's torso and dragged him behind him.

"Good," the eerily relaxed villain commented. "Now bring them to the Polarizers. Replicant," he said, turning to the currently almost-identical villain. "Keep an eye on the Titans. I'll be right back."

The Replicant nodded as Red X walked through the doorway, dragging Flare behind him, followed by Cascade and Volt supporting each other, then Gust and Sol doing the same, the Luna stepped through, and finally Slade, still holding Terra, who was so scared she could only look at the floor.

Red X led them to the end of the hall and opened a door on the left, walking them into a room smaller than the one they were just in. The floor was littered with not only robot parts, but also wrenches, screwdrivers, a vise, a fire extinguisher, and several empty soda cans. There was a bench on the opposite wall, and a table in front of it, both covered with more junk, as well as a briefcase, a blueprint of some sort and a beeper-sized device with a large screen and a few buttons. But most notable in the room was something very familiar to the Elementals: the Polarizers.

The Polarizers, all seven of them, were lined up by the wall to their right, and were essentially cylindrical in appearance, with see-through sides and doors and black metal tops and bottoms. All seven of them had a wire running out the top connected to a single black box on the floor that emitted a faint red glow, not unlike Red X's belt. The box itself had another wire running out of it that was connected to a laptop on the table.

"Open the hatches, X." Slade ordered.

Red X left Flare next to a pod and walked over the laptop and hit several keys. The Polarizers' doors hissed open.

"Get in," Slade said, calmly but forcefully. "Or Terra will die."

One by one, the Elementals did as they were told and helped each other in, until all six of them were in an individual containment unit.

"Close the doors, X." Slade said.

Red X hit several more keys, and the six full pods' doors closed tight.

"And now for the brat." Slade said, more to himself than anyone else as he placed Terra into the final Polarizer. "Now, X, close the door."

Red X heeded the command, and the final hatch shut tight.

"Good luck breaking free of those." Slade said, with just a tiny bit more smugness than usual. "As you know, they're unbreakable from the inside. Now, X," he said, turning to the thief. "Start the process."

Red X hit several more keys and a faint glow began to emit from each of the Polarizers' ceilings.

"Good," Slade commented, walking over to the table and picking up the beeper-sized device with the big screen and pressing a button. Seven beeping dots appeared right in the center. "The process shouldn't take long." He said, handing the doodad to his apprentice. "When the dots disappear, come and get us."

"Where are you going?" Red X asked as he took the Detector.

"I'm going to go kill some time," Slade responded, possibly smirking as he left the room. "And the Titans, while I'm at it."

Meanwhile…

The front room

"Took you long enough." The Replicant said as Slade walked through the doorway.

"Evil things take time." Slade responded.

"Whatever," the Replicant responded, rolling his visible eye. "Do you know which one you want to get rid of first?"

"Decisions, decisions." Slade answered, looking at each of the Titans in turn. "I'll save Robin for last, of course. He should see me tear his friends apart.

"Perhaps Starfire? Would you like that, Robin? Seeing me slit her throat?

"You're sick!" Robin spat, glaring at Slade.

"How about Raven, then?" Slade asked, staring at the cloaked and muted heroine. "She's pinned to the wall, and can't use her powers. I could snap her skinny neck like a toothpick.

"Or how about Beastboy? I owe him for foiling my plans for Terra."

Beastboy and Raven began to sweat slightly upon hearing this.

"Perhaps Cyborg?" Slade continued. "With his power cell drained, he can't even put up a fight."

"Just try and kill me!" Flora shouted, turning the villains' attention back to her.

"I'm not so sure I will." Slade replied, calm as ever.

"What!?" Flora and the Replicant exclaimed simultaneously.

"Red X is getting on my nerves, and he failed his biggest test." Slade said. "This girl has plenty of potential. She reminds me of myself, in fact. She'd make a fine apprentice."

"You never see anything through to the end, do you?" Flora challenged, her eyes still closed tight in a combination of frustration, anger, and fear.

"Why do you think he wants an apprentice?" Robin asked. "To finish it for him."

"Just for that, Robin," Slade replied. "Your death will be _very_ painful. Now, if only I could decide which of your friends to eliminate first."

"If I might make a suggestion," the Replicant interjected. "Why not that one?"

He was pointing at Beastboy.

"Why him?" Slade queried.

"He's and insult to the word 'shapeshifter'." The Replicant replied with a tone of disgust. "Green in every form! It's pathetic!"

"Why not?" Slade replied, walking over to the other side of the room and picking up Red X's discarded katana-X.

Slade lunged at Beastboy with the sword. Beastboy turned into a snake and dodged the blade just in time. Slade tried again, only for Beastboy to turn into a mongoose and avoid the sword again.

"Struggle all you like," Slade said as Beastboy dodged his third attempt by turning into a gerbil. "But soon enough you'll tire out, and you'll be finished."

Meanwhile…

The Polarizer room

Most of the Elementals had lost nearly all hope in getting out of their pods. Only Gust was still ramming into the wall in an attempt to break it.

"Give it up, Gust." Cascade sighed as Gust slammed his shoulder into the wall again. "You know you can't break them."

"You got any better ideas?" Gust asked, ramming it again.

"You could pull off those X's and go from there." Volt suggested, standing up with clearly no X on his legs.

"How'd you do that?" Gust said, dumbfounded.

"I just pulled it off." Volt replied. Then, seeing their looks of confusion, he added "Xenothium-based materials lose most of their strength and properties when exposed to higher-than-normal levels of Carbon dioxide, like in these Polarizers. Didn't you notice it's getting harder to breathe in here?"

The others nodded and began to pull off their bindings when they heard a soft moan from one of the containment units. Flare sat up and looked around the room.

"I take it we didn't win." He said, pulling his arms apart and easily breaking the ropelike X.

"Oh, we won, arr right," Sol said, standing up. "Frora beat Red X bad."

"But eet was just a test for 'eem," Luna continued. "Slade and ze Repleecant came een weeth Terra and forced 'er to surrender."

"Then Slade left us here to reverse our power flow and neutralize our abilities." Volt added.

"While they finish off Flora and the Titans." Gust said, a tear coming to his eye.

"Until it's our turn." Cascade finished, a look of hopelessness on her face.

"All right," Flare gulped. "Any ideas?"

"Well," Volt said in an utterly serious tone. "There's always our last resort."

"WHAT!?" Flare shouted. "You know that'll only delay him!"

"And it'll be the end of the Titans and Frora!" Sol agreed.

"And what about you and Terra?" Luna asked. "I don't theenk you are up to eet!"

"I know it's cowardly," Volt said, staring at the floor of his Polarizer. "But it's still a better chance than if the Replicant gets all our powers. If you guys use your powers to commit suicide while you're still able to use them, he won't be able to get them."

"It's still cowardly." Flare argued.

"You'll reincarnate." Volt assured. "You'll get another chance. But only if your body still holds your power when you die."

"What about Flora and ze Titans?" Luna asked.

"That's out of our hands now." Volt said, shuddering in fear. "But you guys can still save yourselves. Hurry, before your powers stop working!"

The five heroes turned to Volt and nodded before slowly raising a hand to their mouths.

"_Sayonara_, Vort." Sol cried, preparing to deal the lethal blow.

"You guys are pathetic!" Red X suddenly yelled. "Giving up when things get a little tough! I thought heroes were supposed to see things through!"

"And what would you do in our situation?" Flare challenged.

"What would I do?" Red X repeated. "I think I'd…"

Red X hit several keys on the laptop and the containment units' doors hissed open.

"Say 'thanks'." He finished.

"Thank you." Luna said as the heroes walked out.

"But why?" Volt asked as he ran over to untie Terra.

"Slade plans to get rid of me soon, anyway." Red X explained. "I can tell. Just do me one favor."

"Name it." Gust said.

"When you're beating Slade, if he pulls out a trigger, don't let him press it."

"Why not?" Cascade queried.

"Just don't, okay?" the thief replied, a little angrily. "Now get out there!"

"Not just yet," Volt said. He looked around the room. He looked at the people and things in it. He looked at the open door and empty room across the hall. "I have a plan."

Two minutes later…

The front room

"Face it, Beastboy," Slade said, calmer than ever as Beastboy turned into a crow and dodged the blade again. "You can't stall forever."

"He doesn't have to!" Cascade shouted from the doorway.

Flare and Cascade rushed into the room and each delivered a powerful punch to Slade and the Replicant, respectively.

"How'd they get out, Slade?" the Replicant demanded, regaining his composure as he turned to face Cascade.

"I have an idea," Slade responded, staring Flare down. "But we'll look into it after we put them back in."

The two villains lunged at the freed Elementals and grabbed them, much to the heroes…delight?

"Now!" Flare shouted.

Sol and Luna rushed into the room, Sol holding the fire extinguisher from the other room, and ran over to Raven. Sol held up the extinguisher and shot a small squirt of foam at the X on Raven's mouth, and Luna pulled it off easily.

"How did you—?" Raven started.

"'Igher Carbon dioxide levels render Xenothium useless." Luna explained.

"And there's rots of Carbon dioxide in fire extinguishers." Sol continued. "Now, can you herp us?"

"Right." Raven nodded. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos."

The shuriken-X's pinning Raven up fell to the floor, and Raven stepped away from the wall.

The Replicant, who had seen all of this, roared in anger and tossed Cascade aside before charging at Sol. Sol, thinking fast, tossed the extinguisher to Luna and dove aside just in time. Luna, in turn, ran over to Beastboy and used the extinguisher to free him and helped him up.

"Thanks." Beastboy panted, still tired from dodging the katana-X.

"Thank me later," Luna said. "'Elp me now!"

"Enough of this." Slade said in his calmest, scariest tone yet.

Slade stomped on Flare's foot and broke free to charge at Luna when Flare recoiled in pain. Luna threw the extinguisher to Beastboy and just barely managed to avoid Slade. Beastboy then ran over to Flora and freed her.

"Time for some payback for costing me my victory." Flora said with a smirk, before running forward and punching Slade!

"Replicant, get that extinguisher." Slade said, before turning to Flora. "Impudent brat," he hissed, sounding the tiniest bit peeved. "It will be fun breaking you."

"Just try it!" Flora challenged.

In the meantime, the Replicant ran at Beastboy in an attempt to snatch the extinguisher. Beastboy panicked and tossed it as far across the room as he could.

Unfortunately, due to his fatigue and already dismal upper body strength, that wasn't very far. In fact, the Replicant was in perfect position to catch it exactly where he was, and he was ready to do just that!

"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven shouted hurriedly, pointing at the extinguisher. The airborne fire safety device was surrounded by a black aura, and zoomed right into Raven's hands before the aura faded. Raven then took aim and shot a long squirt from the extinguisher all over Starfire, who quickly broke off the X's on her torso and hands, and ripped the one off her eyes before blasting the Replicant with her star rays.

"Grab Cyborg and take him to the back!" Cascade instructed her.

"Right." Starfire nodded, flying over to the inactive bio-mechanical teen and lifting him with, only _some_ effort and carrying him down through the doorway into the hall.

As this happened, the Replicant attempted to follow her, but was rammed from the side by Beastboy, who, ironically, was in the form of a ram.

Raven, in turn, rushed over to Robin and used the fire extinguisher to free him.

The Replicant saw Robin freed and charged at him in rage. Robin met him head-on with another "Claws of the Iron Bear" and this time was successful, as he sent the shapeshifter reeling back. And then it hit him: that move was _de_fensive, not offensive. It only really worked on larger, moving opponents, which is why it didn't work on Flare or Red X.

"Well," Robin said. "Now that we're all out: TITANS, GO!"

The eight heroes charged in toward Slade and released Flora from his grasp before knocking him _and_ the Replicant down the hallway and following after them.

When Slade reached the end of the hall, he peered into the Polarizer room and saw Red X pinned to the floor, with Volt's hand at his neck.

"I knew X let them out." He said in his calmest, deadliest whisper, not buying the act for a second. "There goes his last chance."

Slade reached into his pants pocket and withdrew a metal rod, about two inches long with a button on one end, and held his thumb up to press it.

"That's the trigger!" Flare exclaimed. "Don't let him press it!"

"I doubt any of you can beat me to it." Slade threatened.

Slade slowly moved his thumb down to press it, when a rock (the same one that Flare threw in) hovered up and knocked the trigger out of his hand, right to the floor in front of Cascade. Cascade stomped on the trigger and broke it, but as soon as she did, a howl of agony was heard from Red X, despite that Volt had never touched him.

There was no time to worry about that, though, as Starfire flew out the room opposite the Polarizer room and shot two starbolts at the villains, knocking them to the floor inside the Polarizer room.

"Pin 'em down!" Flare shouted, and the nine heroes each jumped onto the villains and pinned them to the floor.

"Let's see what's behind mask number one!" Flare said, yanking off the Replicant's mask.

Those who saw it resisted the urge to puke.

There was no nose under the mask, nor was there a mouth, or even a second eye. There wasn't even pigment is his skin. It was as white as the background behind this type. There was just one angry, yellow eye staring at them.

"How—?" Flare began to ask, dropping the mask in the process.

"I don't know what he looks like, either." The Replicant explained, voice coming from where the mouth should've been.

"You can copy something as intricate and detailed as my fingerprints when I'm wearing gloves, but you can't copy my face?" Slade asked, shaking his head slightly.

"Look," the Replicant said huffily. "I don't pretend to know why that is, but it is, okay?"

"Well, I think you're about to be able to!" Robin said in a tone of pure triumph.

Slowly, carefully, Robin pulled off Slade's mask…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

(Okay, THIS IS BY FAR MY MOST EVIL CLIFFHANGER EVER. NOT ONLY DID I LEAVE YOU HANGING, I LEFT WASPS TO STING YOUR HANDS WHILE YOU DO. Anyhow, tell me what you think of the chapter. I'M PARTICULARLY PROUD OF THE GADGETS I GAVE RED X. He's such an awesome character. Anyway, the next chapter should be shorter, so it shouldn't take as long, THANK GOD, THOUGH MAYBE I'LL LEAVE YOU HANGING LONGER ANYWAY. On second thought, I'm not that cruel. Nobody is. I'll update as soon as I can. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!)


	9. Chapter 9: Final Confrontation

(I knew you'd come crawling back. THAT CLIFFHANGER'S PULL WAS JUST TO STRONG! WELL, ENJOY!)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Chapter 9: Final Confrontation

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS Claimer: I do own the Elementals (PATENT PENDING)

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"I can't believe it." Beastboy growled.

"I can." Raven said, looking slightly angry.

"Figures." Robin said angrily, tossing the mask aside.

Like the Replicant, there was no face under the mask. Unlike the Replicant, there clearly never was.

Behind the mask was a viewscreen, and on the viewscreen was an image of the real Slade, still hidden behind his mask.

"Hello, Robin," Slade greeted. "It appears I've lost my base. Looks like I'll have to find a new one. I suppose I'll have to settle for…TITANS' TOWER." He announced as the screen went blank, somehow putting an amazing amount of emphasis on those last two words without indicating any emotion at all.

"What did he mean by 'lost his base'?" Flora asked.

Flora's question was answered instantaneously as the screen on the Slade-bot lit up again, this time displaying a digital clock counting down from thirty seconds.

"A BOMB!" the nine heroes said in unison, jumping up in shock.

"_That double-crossing…"_ the Replicant thought angrily. _"Better get out while I still have a chance!"_

The Replicant snatched his mask and put it back on his face. He jumped to his feet, ran to the table and snatched up the Polarizer blueprints. _"Where's the Detector?" _he thought desperately. _"Oh, no time!"_ he thought before sprinting toward the door, only to have Volt block his passage.

"Where do you think you're going?" the de-armored hero demanded.

"Far away from here!" the shapeshifter snarled before kicking Volt aside and running out the door and down the hall.

Volt slowly got back to his feet and was about to go after him when—

"Volt, you think you can drain this thing's power?" Flare asked urgently, pointing at the bomb, which was down to ten seconds.

"Not quickly enough to save us!" Volt replied, staring at the Slade-bot in terror as the counter reached seven.

"Well, what do we do, then?" Beastboy panicked at five.

"Pray." Sol whimpered as he hugged Luna tightly when the timer hit three.

Just as it reached two, though, something hit the Slade-bot and caused the screen to go blank as the timer hit one: Red X had fired a power-sucking-X and shut down the robot before the bomb could go off!

All nine heroes sighed in relief.

"Thanks." Volt said as his heart resumed beating before turning to Red X and gasping.

Red X was obviously in tremendous pain. He was still lying on the floor, one hand still pointed at the Slade-bot, the other clutching his heart as he struggled to breathe. There was a faint orange glow emanating from under his suit.

"What has happened to you?" Starfire exclaimed.

"The trigger…" Red X gasped. "It activated…"

"Bloodstream nanobots," Volt finished. "I'd know those symptoms anywhere."

"But he never pressed the trigger!" Cascade argued.

"The robot didn't," Robin seethed. "But I'll bet anything that the _real_ Slade _did_!"

"Forget 'ow 'e did eet!" Luna said. "We 'ave to 'elp 'eem!"

"I can short-circuit them if I can get a strong enough current through his body," Volt said. "But I'm out of juice, not to mention almost totally neutralized!"

"Not to mention the suit is shockproof." Flora added.

"Yeah," Volt agreed. "But if I can generate more power than that disk, I bet I can get through it."

"Hurry!" Red X groaned.

"I just need to absorb some power from another source," Volt said. "A battery or something."

"What'd the Replicant do with the communicators he stole?" Raven asked. "Ours had strong batteries."

"He…pocketed 'em." Red X choked.

"Werr, there's got to be a power source somewhere in here!" Sol said, looking around frantically.

"Like what?" Flare asked. "Cyborg's power cell's drained, the Polarizers' core burned out, what else is there?"

"How about the engine from the E-jet?" Flora suggested. "Or one of the sections of the T-sub?"

"That'd take too long." Volt replied, shaking his head. "He'll be lucky to hold out another minute!"

"Well, we have to do something!" Flare shouted. "We can't just let him die!"

"Then point me to a power source!" Volt bellowed back.

"The…belt…" Red X suddenly gasped before collapsing.

"The belt?" Volt repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"It powers the suit!" Robin urged. "Now hurry!"

Volt nodded and placed one hand on Red X's belt and the other on the thief's chest. Carefully he siphoned the power from the belt through one hand to his other and delivered a powerful shock through Red X's body. Slowly, the orange glow faded.

"Thanks," the thief wheezed as he slowly climbed to his feet and struggled to stay that way. "Here," he said, handing Volt the Detector he'd been holding on to.

"What's this?" Volt asked, staring at the device.

"Slade used it…to find Terra." Red X said. "Maybe you can use it…to find others."

"Thanks." Volt said, clearly at a loss for words.

"Whatever," the thief grumbled. "Now…I gotta get goin'."

"Going!?" Cascade exclaimed. "You can barely stand up!"

"I can still…teleport." He said, presumably smirking as he hit a button on his belt buckle. In an instant, he was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Flare asked, wide-eyed.

"Who knows?" Robin replied. "He does that after every heist."

"Uh, hate to break up this little brainstorm," Flora piped up. "But, uh, SLADE'S ABOUT TO TAKE OVER TITANS' TOWER!"

"Right," Starfire agreed, snapping back to the moment. "We must reclaim our home, and quickly."

"We'd better hurry, then." Robin said. "Star, go get Cyborg."

Starfire nodded and flew across the hall. As soon as she left, Gust and Terra walked in.

"I untied her and told her everything." Gust reported.

"And?" Flare asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She doesn't remember anything." He replied. "The only one here she recognizes is Beastboy, and only as 'that nostalgic green guy'."

"Nostalgic?" Luna asked.

"I'll tell you later," Beastboy said with a frown as he stared at Terra. "Now, let's get goin'!"

The heroes nodded and ran out into the hallway and out of the warehouse, with Starfire carrying Cyborg behind them.

Flare ran up to the door of the E-jet, pulled out his card key and swiped it through the slot. "Get in, everyone!" he shouted.

"What about the T-sub?" Robin asked.

"Salvage it later," Cascade said. "We all need to get there as fast as possible!"

The Titans (except Cyborg) nodded and filed into the jet, followed by the Elementals and Terra. After all the heroes (and Terra) were, well, not-quite-comfortable, Volt walked into the cockpit and started the engine. The plane lurched forward and eventually took off.

"Okay," Gust said as they gained altitude. "Now, what happened with you guys, and why do we need to hurry back to the Tower?"

"Well…" Flare said.

One recounting of events you've already read and a large portion of the city later…

"So now we have to get back to the Tower A.S.A.P.!" Beastboy finished.

"Uh, I have a question." Terra piped up, raising her hand. "Well, actually I have lots of 'em, but let's start with this one."

"What is it, Terra?" Flare queried, glad to see she was getting over the terror of the evening, even if it wasn't quite over.

"Stop calling me that!" she said in a frustrated tone.

"Then what may we call you?" Starfire politely inquired.

"Tara," replied Tara. "Tara Markov."

"Well, 'Tara'," Flare continued. "What's your question?"

"What's so bad about this Slade guy getting the Tower, anyway?" she asked.

"You're kidding!" Robin exclaimed.

"You _live_ in this city and you don't know how bad that'd be!?" Beastboy shouted.

Tara frowned and shook her head.

"The Tower mainframe is powerful enough to link up to computers and surveillance cameras all over the city!" Robin yelled. "He could keep an eye on it at all times, or even bring economic activity to a standstill whenever he wants!"

"Not to mention all our personal property's in there." Raven added, her tone harsher than usual. "He could learn more about us from it than he's ever hoped possible."

"And," Starfire added. "It is our home."

The Titans nodded in agreement on this note.

"Approaching Titans' Tower." Volt's voice suddenly said over the intercom. "Everybody into the cockpit!"

The ten heroes and Tara nodded and heeded Volt's request and walked into the small and now rather crowded control room. Through the windshield they could see the familiar T-shape of the Tower looming at them from the island across the bay.

"How shall we get in?" Starfire asked. "I will wager my bottom grubfar that he has resealed it after entering."

Gust looked at her for a moment before shaking his head. "Well, we can't use brute force," he informed her. "Our powers won't be back to normal for another few hours."

"That wouldn't work at your full strength." Raven told him. "The Tower's locked up tight. Almost nothing can get in or out."

"Almost?" Luna repeated, raising an eyebrow. "What can get through?"

"Just the basics," Robin said. "Water, gas, air…"

"Air?" Cascade quoted. "Through vents, right? Like the one on the roof?"

"Cascade, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?" Gust asked. "That vent's sides are boiling hot, and a person could barely stick their arm through without touching 'em! Don't tell me you think you can get in through _that_!"

"_I_ can't," Cascade smirked. "But someone else here can."

Everyone turned toward Beastboy.

"Uh, uh!" he said, shaking his head furiously. "No way. I am _not_ goin' in there to fight Slade alone!"

"But you have fought the Slade alone before, have you not?" Starfire queried.

"Yeah," Beastboy argued. "And it's because of that he'll be ready for any animal or attack I use!"

"I can think of one form he doesn't know about." Raven said, practically smiling. "Beastman."

"WHAT!?" Beastboy yelled. "No way I am _ever_ using Beastman!"

"What's Beastman?" Volt asked, turning to Robin.

"His strongest form," Robin explained. "He got it after falling in a vat of chemicals. He hates using it, though, because he _thinks_ he doesn't have enough control over its impulses."

"Which is why I'm never, ever, _ever_ gonna use it!" the green hero yelled.

"It's our only chance!" Robin told him.

"No!" Beastboy snarled.

"I told you that that thing doesn't make you a monster." Raven said impatiently.

"I don't care!" he screamed. "And there is _nothing_ you can do to change my mind!"

"Is that so?" Flora asked with a smile. Slowly she walked up to him, pulled him toward her, and kissed him long and passionately. "How 'bout now?" she asked when they finally broke apart.

"Flora!" Flare shouted angrily. "That was completely manipulative!"

"I'm so proud." Cascade gushed.

"So," Flora said. "Will you do it?"

Beastboy blushed so hard you could've fried an egg on his face. "Oh, okay," he finally said. "But don't get mad at me if someone besides Slade gets hurt."

"We're at the Tower." Volt announced. "I'm goin' in for a landing."

Carefully and confidently, Volt once again steered the jet into a landing on the roof of Titans' Tower.

"All right," Robin said after the bumpy landing. "Here's the plan: While Beastboy goes in, we surround the Towers' exits. Even Slade may retreat against Beastman, and if the doorways open, we rush in and finish him, got it?"

Nine of the ten non-Robin heroes nodded.

"If it's all the same to you," Volt said. "I think I'll stay here with Cyborg and Ter—Tara, okay?"

"All right," Robin sighed. "Everyone else, let's go!"

The ten heroes filed out of the cockpit and into the living room section. Cascade opened the side door and they walked out of the plane onto the roof.

"Go on, Beastboy," Raven told him. "We'll be guarding the exits."

Beastboy sighed as Raven and Starfire began to lower Robin and the Elementals to the ground before assuming the form of a hummingbird and flew straight into the vent.

"_I can't believe I'm doing this,"_ he thought as the vent curved downward and he flew down, down, down (actually, it was only a few feet, but a lot further for a hummingbird) until it jutted off at a right angle toward a grate. Through the grate, he could see the kitchen/living room. Slowly, carefully, he flew over to the grate and turned into a smaller form—a fly—and expertly flew between the metal bars.

Once in, he almost morphed back into himself, but, remembering what Raven said about the security system not detecting insects, stayed in his current form and headed for the staircase.

Eventually he reached the Tower mainframe room, a large room containing a massive computer, numerous wires connected to several beeping contraptions, and, right now, Slade.

"Surrounding the Tower," Beastboy could hear him almost laugh as he looked at the monitor, which displayed live videofeed from the Tower's interior and exterior cameras. "They must think you can force me out, eh, Beastboy?" he said as he turned around.

"How'd you know I was here?" Beastboy demanded, snapping back into his human form.

"I heard you buzzing." Slade calmly replied. "Animals aren't the only ones with heightened senses, you know. Now, are you going to go peacefully, or will I have to force you?"

"Force this!" Beastboy yelled. He closed his eyes and concentrated on all his rage at Slade. Kidnapping Tara. Holding her hostage. Seizing the Tower. Calling in the middle of dinner. All of them fueled the changeling's anger.

He began to morph. It was slower than his normal transformations, so Slade was able to make out every gruesome change in his appearance. He began to grow taller. His muscles bulged to massive proportions. Thick hair (dark green, of course) sprouted everywhere but his face, hands, chest, and feet. His forehead enlarged and his teeth grew long and sharp. When the transformation was complete, he had become an immense, hairy sasquatch that would've sent chills down a normal man's spine.

Slade, however, just cocked his head. "You've been holding out on me," he said nonchalantly. "How long have you been able to do that?"

The beast didn't answer. It just roared and swiped a clawed hand at the villain, who masterfully dodged.

"You show off this mighty new form and that's all you can do?" Slade asked, possibly with a smile. "I'm embarrassed for you."

Beastman snarled and swiped his claw again. Slade easily leapt behind him and delivered a roundhouse kick to the sasquatch's side. Beastman howled in agony and turned around, baring his teeth at Slade and delivering a punch straight to Slade's chest, knocking him over. Beastman raised his claw to deal the final blow, but before he could, Slade leapt up and ran up the stairs. Beastman let out a primal yell and followed him.

"Let's see how you do when _I_ have the home-field advantage." Slade said as he ran into the living room section of the kitchen/living room.

Beastman stopped and blinked in confusion. As if to answer his unasked question, a laser fired out of the camera above the door and struck him in the chest. Beastman howled and charged at Slade, who ran into the hallway to the left. Beastman followed, narrowly avoiding more lasers.

On impulse, Slade took a right at the first doorway and ran in. It was a large room with all sorts of things taken from villains on display. Slade sprinted around Control Freak's remote and pressed up on the back wall next to H.I.V.E. Commander's shield as Beastman charged in with a roar.

Beastman grabbed a bust of Mad Mod and threw it at Slade as hard as he could. Slade ducked aside and barely dodged it as it crashed into a wall and broke into several pieces. In frustration, Beastman began to fling anything he could get his hands on at his masked adversary. Punk Rocket's guitar. The engine block from Ding Dong Daddy's car. The Puppet King's Cyborg Marionette. Slade dodged them all as the room took massive damage.

Finally, Slade grabbed Blackfire's pink wig and ran at the beast, jamming the hairpiece in its throat. Beastman sputtered and coughed, trying to dislodge the obstruction as Slade delivered a powerful punch to his ribs, knocking him into the hallway for a good news/bad news moment.

The good news: the blow to the stomach allowed Beastman to cough up the wig.

The bad news: he instantly got zapped by the laser from a camera right outside the door.

Slade charged at the weakened creature to finish him off, but Beastman raised his hand and hit Slade in the side and knocked him further down the hall before getting to his feet and sprinting after him.

Slade ducked into the next room. This one could only be one thing: a gym. There were bench presses, barbells, treadmills, and all sorts of other miscellaneous equipment for staying in shape spread all over it. Slade ducked behind a treadmill as Beastman burst in with a roar, only to be hit by another laser.

In rage, Beastman grabbed one of Robin's dumbbells and heaved it at the camera and crushed it before picking up a pile of Cyborg's spare barbell weights and tossing them at Slade like Frisbees. Slade avoided them, grabbed a medicine ball and threw it at the sasquatch, hitting him square in the face. Beastman let out a massive roar and rushed at Slade, who responded by jumping up and grabbing a pull-up bar behind him and swinging a full 360 degrees around it, narrowly avoiding Beastman and landing a powerful kick to his back right after he passed, sending the massive animal crashing into the wall with such force that he slowly morphed back into his natural form after the collision.

"Ow," the green hero moaned, rubbing his head, just before Slade scooped him up into a bear hug.

"Nice work," Slade told him, sounding slightly winded as he carried Beastboy into the hall. "I haven't had a workout this good in years."

"Where are we going?" Beastboy asked nervously.

"I failed to destroy you once tonight," Slade replied. "It won't happen again. Ah, here we are." He said, stopping in front of the doorway to the museum of crime. "Say goodbye, Beastboy." He said, holding the changeling about three inches away from the camera.

Beastboy closed his eyes and prepared for the blast, but it never came. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The laser wasn't even charging. Slade slowly moved Beastboy back and forth slightly. The camera followed him, but didn't go off.

"What is this?" Slade said, sounding the slightest bit peeved.

"I swear I didn't do anything!" Beastboy cried.

"Well, there must be a reason it—," Suddenly he paused. "What was that?" he asked after a minute.

"What was what?" Beastboy inquired.

"Don't you hear it?"

Beastboy concentrated and listened hard. He could hear two sounds. One was a mechanical shifting noise. The other was footsteps on stairs. Somehow the lockdown had been disabled, and the Titans and Elementals were flooding in!

"You might wanna run now." Beastboy suggested with a smile.

"Why would I do that?" Slade asked nonchalantly. "I have a hostage, don't I?"

Beastboy gulped. A sweatdrop appeared on his forehead. Slade was right. Turning into Beastman had taken a lot out of him, and turning back had taken even more. It would be a while before he could morph again. "I guess you're—"

"Dead wrong!" Flare shouted, charging from the end of the hall, with the other eight heroes right behind him.

Flare raised his hand and shot a fireball that hit Slade right in the arm. Slade recoiled and dropped Beastboy, who ran to join the others.

"Face it, Slade," Robin said. "It's over."

"Not as long as I'm still alive." Slade said, with just a hint of anger in his voice as he ran further down to the last doorway in the hall—the stairs to the Tower roof. Slade sprinted up the stairs as quickly as he could, with the ten heroes close behind him. He was almost at the top! He could see moonlight when—.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" Cyborg yelled as he and Volt jumped in front of the opening.

"Your jet." He replied, kicking them aside ("Twice in one night!" Volt shouted.) and running through as he pulled a card key out of his pocket. Slade ran for the jet. He was two feet away when—.

"Argh!" he grunted as a star ray hit him in the side, causing him to drop the card key and skid to the corner of the roof.

"Not this time, Slade!" Robin shouted as the twelve heroes surrounded their enemy.

"You've won this round," Slade proclaimed. "But—."

"You'll be back," Beastboy finished. "We know! And you'll have a brand-new apprentice and master plan, but when you're about to win your apprentice'll turn on you and we'll kick your butt like always!"

"It _is_ kinda repetitive." Cyborg agreed.

Then, Slade did something that they'd never seen him do. Something they didn't think he'd ever done or ever would do: he lost his temper.

"NO!" he shouted, a terrifying roar that froze even the Titans and Elementals in place. "NO MORE APPRENTICES!"

Slade reached into his pocket and pulled something out: the last rod of xenothium. He held it high above his head. "THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO CARRY ON MY LEGACY!" he screamed as he threw the rod to the floor.

A red smoke erupted and obscured all vision for the heroes as a good-sized explosion took place, blowing everyone back. When the smoke cleared, Slade was nowhere to be found.

"He's gone!" Flare exclaimed.

"Cyborg, scan for him!" Robin ordered.

"Can't," the bio-mechanical teen replied. "The xenothium radiation's interfering. If it weren't for my human eye, I'd be blind right now."

"Well, at least it's over for now," Gust said optimistically.

"Yeah," Beastboy agreed. "But there's one thing I don't get: How'd you guys undo the lockdown?"

"Wasn't us," Raven said. "We just ran in when it opened."

"Nearly got killed by that training course while waiting, too," Flare added. "Robin coulda mentioned that it doubles as an exterior defense system on the hardest level."

"Then how'd it open?" Flora inquired.

"Notice something missing?" Cyborg laughed, showing his right hand, or lack thereof. "Boo-Yah! Toldya my computer's way more powerful than the Tower mainframe!" he said, turning to Volt.

"Just lucky my old motorcycle had enough juice to reactivate your power cell." Volt agreed.

"Not for long," Cyborg grunted. "Can we talk in my room? I need to recharge."

"Fine," Robin sighed, still bitter about losing Slade. "I'll get Tara."

10 minutes later…

Cyborg's room

"Sorry again about the crime museum and gym, guys." Beastboy apologized. "I just couldn't control myself."

"No big deal," Robin reassured. "That stuff was in the museum so people _couldn't_ use 'em, and they definitely can't now."

"Besides," Cyborg added, now plugged into his recharger with his right hand reattached. "Syco-Tek did way worse damage than this, and we rebuilt."

"Well, what do we do about Slade and the Replicant?" Flora asked. "We gotta catch 'em, don't we?"

"They are long gone by now." Starfire sighed, hugging the miraculously unharmed-by-Slade Silkie.

"We made the right choice," Flare told her. "We saved an innocent life."

"And found an Elemental." Gust added.

"I told you," Tara said. "I'm not an Elemental!"

"Yeah, you are." Gust said, nodding.

"No, I'm not!" Tara yelled.

"Then who levitated that rock?" Gust retorted. "I know you did it."

Tara went silent.

"Which brings us to our next topic," Volt said. "What to do with Tara."

"Just let me go back to Murakami Boarding School!" she said impatiently.

"Bad idea," Flare told her. "You couldn't control your powers very well when we knew you. It'd be completely reckless to just leave you alone when you weren't able to master your powers last time."

"Actually," Beastboy said grimly. "She was. Slade trained her."

"I 'ope you are not suggesting zat we 'and 'er over to Slade?" Luna growled.

Beastboy raised his hands defensively. "Of course not!" he squeaked. "I'm just sayin' she was able to master 'em, is all."

"Well," Flare announced. "Whether she was able to in the past or not, it's our responsibility to help her now."

"We wirr be happy to take her with us." Sol offered.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Tara demanded. "I don't wanna leave! I just got settled in my new dorm!"

"Stubborn as ever." Volt muttered under his breath.

"Sorry, Tara," Gust told her. "But staying is the worst possible move you could make."

Raven nodded. "If Slade and the Replicant found you once, they can do it again." She said.

"Especially if you don't even move." Cascade agreed. "Face it, the odds of them _not_ coming back for you are about the same as a grizzly bear _not_ eating you if you bathe in bacon grease."

"Can't the Titans keep 'em away?" Tara countered. "This Tower lets 'em see everything, doesn't it?"

"We can't keep an eye on you all day, every day!" Robin exclaimed. "We're crimefighters, not bodyguards!"

"Plus, you'd get pretty creeped out knowing you're always being watched." Beastboy added.

"Well, I'm still not going," Tara said in a huff. "I'm staying in school!"

"What better way to get an education than by traveling the world?" Gust asked. "Culture, language, history. You'll learn more out there than in some dusty classroom."

"No way!" Tara said, crossing her arms.

Then Volt played his trump card.

"Boarding school, huh?" he asked. Tara nodded. "So, who's paying for room and board?"

Tara's eyes went even wider than usual, which is saying something. She paused. "I don't know." She finally said.

"Didn't think you would." He told her. "And I don't think the school does, either. Eventually they'll discover that and throw you out."

"I'll make you a deal," Gust offered. "If you come with us until we get rid of the Replicant and finish your training, we'll bring you back _and_ I'll pay your tuition through the college of your choice. How about it?"

"Trust him," Flora said, nodding. "He can afford it. He's the heir to an airline fortune."

Tara paused and thought for a moment. "_Any _college?" she asked.

"Yep." Gust smirked.

She remained silent for another minute. "I'll do it." She sighed. "But what about my friends back here? I can't just leave and not tell them."

"Leave (reave) zat (that) to us." Sol and Luna told her.

"Well," Flare announced, walking to the door. "We'd better get going."

"Yeah," Volt agreed, following after him. "We've got a lot to do. Tracking the Replicant _and_ training a new Elemental. We're gonna be busy for a—."

At that moment, an alarm sounded and a red light began to flash all through the Tower.

"What's going on?" Flora asked over the noise.

"Just a mission." Cyborg said, pressing a button on his computer. The alarm and light stopped and the screen lit up and showed camera feed of a man in a suit covered in lightbulbs standing in front of a bank.

"Dr. Light _again_!?" Beastboy exclaimed. "What is this, the seventeenth time he's tried to rob that bank?"

"By my count, it is the nineteenth." Starfire told him, sounding exasperated.

"Wanna help us kick his butt?" Cyborg offered. "It's fun the first time, but it kinda loses its charm around the twelfth.'

"I think we've got time for that!" Flare said with a smirk.

The End

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(Sorry if you feel royally screwed over, BUT RELAX, THIS IS MY FIRST FIC. THERE'S PLENTY OF TIME FOR ME TO REVEAL SECRETS. In fact, I'm already planning a sequel, called "The Elemental of Fate", THOUGH YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR THAT ONE AS I'M CURRENTLY WRITING AN IDEA I'VE HAD JUST AS LONG AS THIS FIC TO GIVE ME SOME TIME TO THINK. I'll tell you in the next chapter! Also, a reviewer who has a knack for noticing things I've missed posed a good question: HOW WERE THEY ABLE TO PULL OFF THE REPLICANT'S MASK IF IT'S PART OF HIS TRANSFORMATION? A good question, indeed. The answer: HE CAN REMOVE CLOTHES IN HIS TRANSFORMED STATE, BUT HE CAN'T MORPH AGAIN UNTIL HE PUTS 'EM BACK ON. That's why he put the mask on again before leaving. GOOD ENOUGH ANSWER? I THOUGHT SO. LEAVE LONG, NOT-FLAMEY REVIEWS, PLEASE!)


	10. Epilogue

(Hey, there, and can you believe it? WOW, TWO CHAPTERS AT ONCE!? WELL, THESE ARE THE LAST ONES, AND I FELT CRUEL WITH THAT CLIFFHANGER. Also, this is sort of an early reverse-birthday present to all you readers. YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU GET THE PRESENT ON THEIR BIRTHDAY? Well, enjoy!)

Teen Titans Meet the Elementals

Epilogue

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_Dear Diary,_

_There have been a lot of changes in just one night. I was kidnapped just last night because of a power I didn't even know I had (apparently I'm the Elemental of Earth, with seismo- and geokinesis. How weird is that?). Luckily, I was saved by the Teen Titans and a team called the Elementals, the latter of which decided to take me with them afterward. I didn't want to, but they gave me a good argument, and an even better offer (full tuition for the college of my choice! Can you believe it?). But just as we were about to leave, a crime was committed!_

_Okay, Dr. Light was a wuss. Even _I _could've punched him out, given the chance. Well, once we were done with him, we headed back to the Tower to get the Elementals' motorcycles (awesome, huh? Volt even mentioned he might make _me_ one later!), and then over to Murakami for some last-minute things. I grabbed my schoolbooks, and, of course, you. Sol and Luna also helped me write a note saying I witnessed a crime and am now with a program to protect me from the criminals, which is basically the truth._

_Speaking of the criminals, Robin recently contacted us. Oh, did I forget to mention? After the Elementals helped beat Dr. Light to a pulp, Robin gave us these awesome communicators and named us all honorary Titans, even me! Awesome, huh? Well, okay, Beastboy said that Robin hands these out like party favors, but I still think it's cool._

_Well, anyway, Robin contacted us with some news a few hours ago: When they went to recover the pieces of their sub, two sections were missing. They're sure the Replicant (the guy we're after) took one from the warehouse, and Slade (the guy they're after) hijacked Robin's from the middle of the city. The section they think the Replicant stole was found next to the airport, though not with the Replicant in it. Unfortunately, the section they think Slade took is long gone._

_Anyway, while we search for the Replicant, Volt, Sol, and Luna have agreed to be my tutors. They may have taken me out of school, but I am _not_ falling behind._

_Speaking of one-on-one education, Flora was assigned to train me in the use of my powers, which is weird because, from what I've heard her powers are nothing like mine. But then Flare elaborated by saying that since Slade taught me last time (which I _really_ think I'd remember, but don't), my best bet was with a fighting style like his. Apparently, Slade even said that she "reminded him of himself", though she doesn't like to be reminded of that._

_Anyway, everything starts tomorrow, whether I'm ready for it or not. I can tell it's gonna be an adventure, though!_

'_Til tomorrow,_

_Terra_

_P.S. As a rule of the Elementals, I have to adopt this new name. Flora agrees that it's a stupid we can't use our real names, but, hey, what're you gonna do?_

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(So, what do you think of the diary format for this chapter? LOVE IT? HATE IT? TELL ME IN THE REVIEW, 'CUZ I MAY OPEN WITH IT IN LATER FICS. In the meantime, I'll continue to work on my next fic, a Pokemon one. WHAT'S IT ABOUT? YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT AND FIND OUT WHEN I PUT IT UP, which shouldn't take too long. 'TIL THEN, THIS IS MULTIPLEPERSONAS IN WOULDN'T-YOU-LIKE-TO-KNOW-WHERE-VILLE SIGNING OFF!)


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